t 


^  FEB  16  1934 


BX  9428 

.S3 

1920 

Schenck, 

Ferdinand 

Schureman, 

1845-1925. 

Expository  sermons 

on 

the 

Heidelb 

erg 

catechism 

Expository  Sermons 
on  the  Heidelberg  Catechism 


Catechism  Sermons 

By  DR.  SCHENCK 


EXPOSITORY  SERMONS  ON  THE 
HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

213  Pages. 


Previously  issued 

THE  APOSTLES   CREED  IN  THE 
TWENTIETH  CENTURY 

212  Pages 


THE  TEN    COMMANDMENTS 
AND    THE    LORD'S    PRAYER 

24s  Pages 


y  (  .  FEB  16  1934 

Expository  Serm<Mis    # 

on  the 

Heidelberg  Catechism 


By 
Rev.  Ferdinand  S.  Schenck,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

Professor  of  Preaching  and  Sociology  in 

The  Iheological  Seminary  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  America 

at  Neiv  Brunsivici,  N.  J. 


New  York 

Board  of  Publication  and  Bible  School  Work 

of  the  Reformed  Church  in  America 

25  East  Twenty-second  Street 

1920 


Copyright,  1920 
Board  of  Publication  and  Bible  School  Work 


THE    ABBOTT    PRESS,    NEW    YORK 


EXPLANATIONS 

My  Expository  Sermons  on  the  34th  to  the 
52nd  Lord's  Day  of  the  Catechism  were  pub- 
lished in  1902  in  n  volume  entitled  "  The  Ten 
Commandments  and  the  Lord's  Prayer." 

My  sermons  in  Exposition  of  the  7th  to  the 
22nd  Lord's  Day  of  the  Catechism  were  pub- 
lished in  1918  in  a  volume  entitled  "The  Apostle's 
Creed  in  the  Twentieth  Century." 

To  reprint  these  two  volumes  with  this  book 
would  be  too  expensive  and  would  make  a  volume 
too  bulky  to  handle  easily. 

This  volume  contains  my  expository  sermons 
on  the  first  six  Lord's  Days  of  the  Catechism  and 
on  the  23rd  to  the  34th  Lord's  Days.  These 
Lord's  Days  cover  what  may  be  described  as  the 
distinctive  truths  of  the  Catechism. 

The  former  volumes  may  be  obtained  separately. 

F.  S.   SCHENCK. 

July  15,  1920. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2009  with  funding  from 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


http://www.archive.org/details/expositorysermonOOsche 


PREFACE 

IN  1563  A.  D.,  the  Heidelberg  Catechism  was 
published.  In  1576  the  first  Synod  of  Dort 
declared  it  the  Symbol  of  Doctrine  for  the 
Reformed  Church  of  Holland  and  required  its 
ministers  to  preach  upon  it  at  one  service  of 
every  Lord's  Day. 

With  certain  changes  of  form,  that  require- 
ment has  had  a  continuous  existence  until  this 
day,  and  to  facilitate  it  the  Catechism  has  been 
divided  into  52  Lord's  Days. 

The  present  constitution  of  our  Reformed 
Church  in  America  requires  "every  minister  to 
explain  to  his  congregation  at  an  ordinary  serv- 
ice on  the  Lord's  Day  the  points  of  doctrine 
contained  in  the  Heidelberg  Catechism,  so  that 
the  exposition  may  be  completed  within  the  term 
of  four  years." 

It  also  requires  the  minister  to  secure  the 
catechetical  instructions  of  the  youth.  It  also 
directs  these  requirements  to  be  made  in  every 
call  made  by  a  church  to  a  minister  to  become 
its  pastor.  When  accepted,  it  then  becomes  an 
essential  part  of  the  contract  entered  into  by 
both  church  and  pastor,  which  neither  party 
has  any  right  to  change  or  ignore. 


8  PREFACE 

The  constitution  also  provides  that  each  Classis 
once  each  year  shall  make  an  inquiry  of  each 
church  whether  these  requirements  have  been 
fully  complied  with,  and  shall  report  the  results 
to  the  Synod. 

We  discern  in  these  constitutional  require- 
ments two  strong  and  distinguishing  character- 
istics of  our  Reformed  Church  in  America.  The 
one  is  the  spiritual  oversight  of  the  individual 
churches  by  the  Classes  and  Synod. 

We  have  no  Bishops,  as  do  our  sister  churches, 
the  Episcopal  and  the  Methodist.  Our  individual 
churches  are  not  independent  of  each  other,  as 
are  the  Congregational  and  Baptist  Churches. 
We  are  Presbyterian,  but  each  Classis  excels  each 
Presbytery  in  our  constitution  describing  the 
special  subjects  and  the  particular  manner  of 
its  spiritual  oversight  of  its  churches. 

We  regard  this  well  defined  oversight  as  far 
better  than  that  of  a  Bishop,  far  better  than  no 
oversight  at  all — and  far  better  than  only  an 
undefined  oversight. 

The  second  distinguished  characteristic  of  our 
Church  is  the  required  expository  preaching  upon 
the  Heidelberg  Catechism.  This  usage  of  our 
Church  has  been  in  existence  now  for  nearly 
three  hundred  and  fifty  years.  These  two 
features  distinguish  our  Church  from  all  other 
denominations.  They  depend  for  pulpit  preach- 
ing entirely  upon  the  peculiarity  of  the  preacher's 
mind.    Some  truths  may  be  unduly  magnified  by 


PREFACE  9 

him,  some  may  be  slighted  and  some  may  be 
virtually  ignored.  Our  Church  gives  free  scope 
to  the  individuality  of  the  preacher  in  the  choice 
of  his  subjects,  and  in  addition,  requires  him  to 
give  regular  instruction  on  the  great  articles  of 
the  Christian  faith  in  order  to  preserve  the  truth 
and  to  promote  the  prosperity  of  the  Church. 

When  our  Church  became  indep.^ndent  of  the 
Mother  Church  in  Holland,  and  formed  its  own 
constitution  in  1792,  this  requirement  of  usage 
was  adopted  without  change.  There  have  been 
several  revisions  of  the  constitution  since,  in 
1833,  in  1874  and  the  last,  after  long  considera- 
tion by  the  whole  Church,  in  1916.  In  all  these 
the  required  expository  preaching  upon  the 
Heidelberg  Catechism  has  been  retained.  Quite 
a  large  number  of  our  churches  and  pastors  in 
the  course  of  the  years  have  become  slack  in 
allegiance  to  this  special  requirement,  and  some 
even  opposed  to  it.  In  1910  a  committee  was 
appointed  by  the  General  Synod  to  ascertain  the 
general  usage  in  the  whole  Church,  and  so  the 
mind  of  the  Church  in  this  important  matter. 
We  examined  the  records  of  every  Classis  but 
one,  a  small  Classis  in  the  Far  West — and  found 
that  at  least  two-thirds  of  the  churches  faith- 
fully observed  the  constitutional  required  to  the 
letter,  and  that  all  ministers  and  churches  claimed 
to  observe  it  in  spirit.  In  comparing  the  record 
with  that  of  five  years  before,  we  found  that 
the  number  of  churches  observing  the  letter  of 


10  PREFACE 

the  requirement  was  increasing,  particularly  in 
the  Eastern  part  of  the  Church.  The  Heidelberg 
Catechism  is  finely  adapted  for  preaching,  as  it 
is  not  a  mere  intellectual  statement  of  the  truths 
of  our  religion,  but  it  describes  the  experience  of 
these  truths  in  the  hearts  and  lives  of  the 
believers.  To  expound  it  in  the  successive  Lord's 
Days  gives  to  both  preacher  and  people  the  highest 
ideal  of  Christian  preaching  and  Christian  liv- 
ing. The  Catechism  not  merely  describes  the 
Christian  life  as  one  might  do  who  observes  it 
from  the  outside,  it  gives  the  inward  principles, 
feelings  and  spirit  of  that  life  by  one  who 
lives  it.  It  tells  not  merely  about  the  Christ  one 
has  heard  of,  but  it  describes  the  Christ  one 
trusts — loves  and  serves.  To  promote  such 
preaching  of  Christ  and  such  living  of  Christ  is 
the  highest  ideal  of  both  pulpit  and  pew. 

A  course  of  progressive  preaching  on  the  great 
truths  of  our  religion  will  be  attractive  and 
profitable  to  the  people.  I  once  became  pastor 
of  a  church  where  the  Heidelberg  Catechism  had 
not  been  preached  in  twenty  years,  and  where 
the  evening  services  were  very  much  run  down. 
I  built  up  the  evening  service  by  preaching  upon 
the  successive  Lord's  Days  of  the  Catechism. 
Many  of  our  pastors  have  catechetical  classes, 
many  encourage  the  teaching  of  the  catechism 
in  the  Sunday  Schools.  This  preaching  in  exposi- 
tion of  the  catechism  commends  it  in  the  instruc- 
tions of  the  youth,  and  this  is  a   fine  way  of 


PREFACE  11 

"teaching  teachers  to  teach"  the  essential  truths 
of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  as  experimentally  re- 
ceived. This  progressive  and  proportioned  preach- 
ing and  teaching  of  the  truths  of  the  Christian 
religion  from  the  experience  of  the  soul,  must 
lead  souls  to  feel  the  need  of  a  Savior,  to  trust 
Him  as  their  personal  Savior,  and  to  become 
devoted  followers  of  Christ  in  the  various  activi- 
ties of  His  Church. 

I  am  sending  forth  this  book  of  sermons  with 
the  aim  of  stimulating  this  kind  of  preaching 
and  teaching,  and  to  quicken  and  increase  a 
craving  of  the  people  for  a  full  experience  of 
Christian  truth  as  set  forth  in  our  excellent 
catechism. 

It  may  be  proper  for  me,  in  doing  so,  to  speak 
of  my  own  experience  in  such  preaching  and  of 
the  aid  I  have  recently  received. 

In  my  four  pastorates,  two  in  the  country  and 
two  in  the  city,  I  have  preached  five  entire 
courses  of  sermons  on  the  Catechism,  making 
such  improvements  in  each  course,  as  circum- 
stances permitted.  I  may  say  they  were  received 
by  all  my  congregations  with  as  much  fervor 
as  my  other  sermons.  For  the  past  twenty 
years,  I  have  as  part  of  the  course  on  preaching 
in  this  Seminary,  directed  and  heard  the  students 
preach  upon  the  Catechism.  Many  of  these 
sermons  have  been  very  fine,  and  much  of  the 
criticism  of  the  students  of  each  other  has  been 
very  suggestive  and   helpful.     I   have   been   an 


12  PREFACE 

enthusiastic  teacher  and  many  students  have  been 
enthusiastic  scholars  of  this  kind  of  preaching. 
These  sermons  are  the  outcome  of  my  preaching 
improved  by  the  criticisms  and  suggestions  of 
the  student's  preaching. 

F.  S.  S. 
Neiv  Brunsivick,  N.  J. 
1920. 


CONTENTS 

1st  Lord's  Day 

"Christian  Experience" 15 

2nd  Lord's  Day 

"Nature   Of   Sin" 28 

3rd  Lord's  Day 

"Origin  And  Extent  Of  Sin" 39 

4th  Lord's  Day 

"Desert  Of  Sin" 5I 

5th  Lord's  Day 

"Helplessness  Of  The  Sinner" 62 

6th  Lord's  Day 

"The  Divine  Saviour" 75 

23rd  Lord's  Day 

"Righteousness  By  Faith" 88 

24th  Lord's  Day 

"Justification  By  And  Of  Faith" 103 

25th  Lord's  Day 

"Source  Of  Faith" 117 

25th,  26th,  27th  Lord's  Days 

"Sacrament  Of  Baptism" 130 

28th,  29th,  30th  Lord's  Days 

"Sacrament  Of  The  Lord's  Supper"   ....     140 
31sT  Lord's  Day 

"Organization  Of  The  Church" 151 

25th  to  31st  Lord's  Days 

"The  Ideal  Life  Of  The  Church" 164 

32nd  Lord's  Day 

"Good   Works" I77 

33rd  Lord's  Day 

"Conversion" Igg 

34th  Lord's  Day 

"The  End  Designed  By  God" 200 


I. 


FIRST  LORD'S  DAY  OF  THE 
HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 


"CHRISTIAN  EXPERIENCE" 
Ye  are  Christ's. — I  CoR.  3 :23. 

ONE   of  the  finest  descriptions   of  life  is 
that  it  is  the  adjustment  of  forces  within 
to  forces  without;  this  is  not  a  definition 
of  life, — no  one  can  give  that, — it  only  says  what 
it  does.     The  living  being  is  dependent  upon  its 
environment— it  has  the  power  of  adapting  itself 
to  its  surroundings.     One  of  the  finest  descrip- 
tions  of  the  use  of  the   mind   gives   the   same 
thought.     Its  use  is  to  enable  the  man  to  come 
into  harmony  with  his  environment.     This  may 
be  physical — the  earth  where  he  dwells — or  social 
— the  relations  with  his  fellows — or  spiritual — 
the  God,  "in  Whom  he  lives,  and  moves  and  has 
his  being."     Now  it  is  quite  evident  that  knowl- 
edge  of   the   surroundings   is   the   condition   of 
coming  into  harmony  with  them:  the  bird  must 
know  where  to   find   water,   and   food   and   the 
place  for  its  nest;  the  man  must  know  where  to 
find  God  and  how  to  come  into  harmony  with 
Him.     Still  it  is  just  as  evident  that  knowledge 
alone  is  not  enough:  the  bird  may  be  caught  in 
a  snare  and  so  be  utterly  unable  to  find  water 
or  food  or  nest;  the  man  may  know  where  and 

IS 


16        THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

how  to  come  into  harmony  with  God,  and  yet 
he  may  utterly  refuse  to  act  upon  his  knowledge ; 
he,  to,  may  be  caught  in  the  snare  of  worldliness 
and  so  fail  to  attain  the  noblest  life — harmony 
with  his  God. 

A  catechism  is  a  clear,  concise  and  full  state- 
ment of  the  truths  of  religion ;  it  gives  us  knowl- 
edge of  utmost  importance  to  our  well  being ;  but 
knowledge  is  not  enough.  If  the  catechism  can 
give  us  this  knowledge  with  the  experience  of 
one  who  has  acted  upon  these  truths,  then  it 
guides  the  example  and  the  incentive  to  like 
action  on  our  part,  then  it  commends  the  truths 
it  teaches  to  the  acceptance  of  the  mind,  to  the 
approval  of  conscience  and  to  the  action  of  the 
will,  by  the  experience  of  one  who  has  fully  tested 
them  and  who  tells  us  the  blessedness  of  coming 
into  harmony  with  God. 

This  feature  of  experience  is  the  striking 
characteristic  of  our  Heidelberg  Catechism.  The 
first  question: 

"What  is  the  only  comfort  in  life  and  death?" 
gives  the  keynote  of  the  whole  catechism.  It 
requires  in  its  answer  more  than  an  intellectual 
statement  of  truth,  however  correct  and  full  that 
may  be,  it  must  be  experimental,  it  must  give 
the  personal  experience  of  one  coming  into  har- 
mony with  the  person,  God,  by  accepting  and 
obeying  the  truth.  This  is  clearly  seen  if  we 
contrast  it  with  the  first  question  of  another 
great  catechism: 

"What  is  the  chief  end  of  man?" 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM        17 

The  answer  is : 

"To  glorify  God  and  enjoy  Him  forever." 
The  maker  of  anything,  a  watch  for  example, 
is  glorified  when  the  thing  made  fulfills  the  ideal 
of  the  maker,  and  the  watch  is  only  a  good  one 
as  it  keeps  time.  So  the  question  with  its  answer 
of  that  catechism  is  only  a  matter  of  pure 
intellect.  An  irreligious  man  may  give  it — a 
desperately  wicked  man  of  great  mental  power 
may  see  and  state  this  truth— even  Satan  himself 
may  give  the  answer  full  and  clear.  But  Satan 
is  dumb  before  our  question: 

"What  is  your  only  comfort  in  life  and  death?" 
He  may  know  all  the  truths  of  religion   but 
he  has  no  comfort  from  them. 

Comfort  is  relief  from  past  pain  or  distress 
and  from  all  fear  of  its  return,  or  it  is  opposing 
to  a  still  existent  evil  a  present  good  the  enjoy- 
ment of  which  lessens  the  trial  or  strengthens 
one  to  bear  it.  Our  whole  Catechism  then  is 
more  than  an  intellectual  statement  of  the  truths 
of  religion.  It  states  these  truths  as  they  result 
in  the  experience  of  the  one  who  accepts  and 
obeys  them,  who  trusts  in  God. 

The  Catechism  is  experience  throughout.  We 
now  confine  our  attention  to  the  first  question. 
It  clearly  can  be  answered  affirmatively  only  by 
experience.  There  may  of  course  be  many  nega- 
tive answers.  We  may  readily  think  of  three 
large  classes  of  people  of  whom  we  may  ask  this 
question  and  who  will  give  widely  diff'erent 
answers  to  it. 


18        THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

Let  me  ask  this  question  first  of  that  large  class 
who  are  careless  about  religion.  There  are  many- 
grades  in  the  class — a  wide  diversity  both  of 
character  and  condition.  This  is  a  Church  Audi- 
ence, but  there  are  doubtless  many  of  this  class 
present  now.  They  are  here  from  various 
motives  but  in  their  hearts  they  are  conscious 
they  are  careless  of  religion.  Take  the  very 
best  of  this  class  of  people,  morally  upright,  suc- 
cessful in  life,  having  good  social  standing,  living 
in  happy  homes,  but  conscious  that  they  are  care- 
less about  God,  that  they  are  worldly  minded.  Let 
me  ask  the  best  representative  of  this  class  our 
question : 

"What  is  your  only  comfort  in  life?" 

"Comfort,"  he  answers,  "I  have  no  need  of 
comfort.  I  have  the  good  things  of  life,  its 
worthy  employments,  pleasures  and  friends.  Do 
not  disturb  me;  take  comfort  to  someone  who 
needs  it,  I  do  not." 

I  ask  still  further: 

"What  is  your  only  comfort  in  death?" 

"Death,"  he  answers,  "I  do  not  allow  myself 
to  think  about  death.  When  it  comes  I  suppose 
I  will  die  as  others  do.  I  do  not  think  of  what 
may  be  beyond.  I  only  hope  that  as  I  have 
lived  a  fairly  good  life  here,  and  had  a  fairly 
good  time  I  may  have  the  same  experience  after 
death." 

Poor  voyager  on  life's  mysterious  sea — your 
ship  is  strong,  the  sea  is  smooth,  the  wind  is 
fair,    the   sky    is    clear.      But    you    are    simply 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM        19 

drifting,  you  know  not  how  near  a  rocky  coast, 
how  near  a  roaring  storm — you  have  no  knowl- 
edge of  the  stars — no  chart  on  board — no  com- 
pass— no  pilot — no  captain, — you  are  bound  for 
no  harbor, — you  are  simply  drifting  on  life's 
wide  ocean. 

This  is  a  very  earnest  question  I  am  asking 
you — it  arises  from  a  consideration  of  many  im- 
portant truths  you  ignore.  Are  you  living  with- 
out a  thought  of  responsibility  to  God  for  the 
use  of  the  powers  He  gives  you,  of  the  time  He 
grants  you,  without  any  gratitude  to  Him, — with- 
out even  consulting  Him?  You  say  you  have  no 
need  of  comfort;  but  rather  is  it  not  possible 
that  you  are  in  great  need,  but  that  your  con- 
science is  asleep,  that  you  are  drugged  with 
worldliness,  that  you  simply  do  not  recognize  your 
need? 

The  second  large  class  of  people  of  whom  this 
question  may  be  asked  is  also  of  many  grades 
and  conditions ;  some  may  be  living  wicked  lives ; 
some  may  be  living  upright  lives  as  their  neigh- 
bors recognize;  but  as  a  class  they  have  an 
aroused  and  condemning  conscience — they  may 
be  said  to  be  convicted  of  sin.  There  are  also 
grades  of  this  conviction;  in  some  it  is  very 
deep  and  harassing;  they  sometimes  plunge  into 
sin  to  drown  it,  or  they  harden  themselves  to 
bear  it;  in  others  it  is  more  shallow  and  less 
disturbing,  but  still  a  disagreeable  companion 
whenever  it  demands  a  hearing. 

Let  me  ask  our  question  of  all  the  grades  of 


20        THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

this  large  class.  There  may  be  many  here  in 
this  Church  Audience. 

"What  is  your  only  comfort  in  life  and  death?" 

The  answer  is  prompt  and  clear: 

"We  have  no  comfort  at  all,  either  in  life  or 
in  view  of  death.  Our  religion  has  thus  far 
brought  us  only  unrest  and  distress.  Tell  us 
where  we  may  secure  comfort  and  you  will  con- 
fer the  greatest  favor  upon  us." 

And  now  I  will  ask  our  question  of  the  third 
class  of  people — those  who  are  really  Christians, 
those  who  believe  in  Christ  as  their  Saviour. 

"What  is  your  only  comfort  in  life  and  death?" 

The  answer  comes  clear  and  strong  from 
each  one: 

"That  I  belong  to  my  faithful  Saviour,  Jesus 
Christ." 

Doubtless  there  are  many  grades  of  character 
and  conditions  also  in  this  class.  Doubtless  also 
the  large  proportion  of  this  Church  Audience  is 
made  up  of  the  many  grades  of  this  large  class. 

The  answer  given  toi  this  question  in  our 
Catechism  may  be  of  great  service  to  us  all: 
to  the  careless  to  arouse  a  sense  of  need  and  its 
supply;  to  the  convicted  of  sin  in  their  trouble, 
to  give  them  full  relief;  and  to  believers  to  make 
more  clear  and  full  their  trust  in  Christ,  as  they 
define  and  describe  it,  and  to  show  them  a  way 
in  which  they  may  serve  Christ  by  telling  others 
of  Him. 

The  answer  covers  the  past,  the  present,  and 
the  future.     In  the  past  the  believer  came  to 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM        21 

recognize  his  need  of  the  forgiveness  of  his  sins 
and  of  strength  to  resist  sinfulness.  He  had 
tried  to  live  as  his  own  governor,  as  belonging 
to  himself,  as  his  own,  but  he  had  learned  to 
recognize  that  his  own  will  had  gone  far  astray 
from  God's  law  of  his  life, — that  he  was  under 
the  condemnation  of  that  law  and  under  the 
power  of  his  own  deceived,  ignorant  and  stubborn 
will.  Then  he  learned  of  Jesus  Christ  as  the 
lover  of  mankind,  as  the  lover  of  his  guilty  and 
sinful  soul,  and  he  began  to  trust  Him  as  his 
Saviour.    Now  he  belongs  to  Christ  for  he  says: 

"Christ  with  His  precious  blood  hath  fully 
satisfied  for  all  my  sins." 

We  know  something  in  our  business  life  of 
ransom, — one's  home  has  been  sold  for  unpaid 
taxes, — he  may  ransom  it  under  certain  condi- 
tions; also  in  history  of  man,  a  prisoner  is 
ransomed  by  an  exchange.  So  Christ  says  He 
gave  His  life  a  "ransom  for  many";  so  Paul 
says : 

"While  we  were  yet  sinners  Christ  died  for  us." 

We  can  never  fully  realize  the  price  He  paid, 
— He  gave  His  life  to  redeem  us  from  our  sins. 
He  has  ransomed  us. 

More  than  this  the  answer  says : 

"Christ  has  delivered  me  from  all  the  power 
of  the  devil." 

The  believer  had  thought  he  was  his  own,  was 
guiding  his  own  life,  but  in  reality  he  was  de- 
ceived by  Satan;  he  was  yielding  him  service, 
following  his  devices,  yielding  to  his  temptations. 


22        THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

But  at  length  he  recognized  there  was  a  sinful 
nature  within  him  which  held  him  a  willing 
prisoner;  call  it  by  whatever  name  you  will,  rec- 
ognizing its  source  and  its  power,  it  is  the  enemy 
of  God  in  the  world  and  in  our  souls.  Christ 
called  it  the  "Prince  of  this  world,"  and  said  He 
would  by  His  death  strip  him  of  all  his  disguises, 
judge  him,  and  cast  him  out.  John,  the  beloved 
disciple  of  Christ  said : 

"For  this  purpose  the  Son  of  God  was  mani- 
fested that  He  might  destroy  the  works  of  the 
devil." 

So  the  believer  trusting  Christ  says: 

"He  hath  delivered  me  from  all  the  power  of 
the  devil." 

We  may  not  fully  recognize  the  power  of  evil 
over  us  or  the  dreadful  battle  Christ  fought  with 
the  Prince  of  this  world,  even  unto  death,  but 
He  has  stripped  him  of  his  disguises,  broken  his 
power,  and  aroused  our  manhood  to  fight  against 
him  as  our  enemy.  We  belong  to  Christ, — He 
hath  redeemed  us  from  the  penalty  and  the 
power  of  our  sins.  We  are  His  by  ransom,  by 
deliverance. 

The  comfort  of  the  believer  is  that  he  has  been 
delivered  from  a  dreadful  condition,  that  he 
belongs  now  (in  his  gratitude  and  devotion),  to 
the  one  who  had  delivered  him  and  that  he  has 
a  growing  appreciation  of  his  deliverer's  power, 
love  and  faithfulness  as  he  contemplates  his 
acts  of  deliverance.  Christ  has  ransomed  us, 
has  satisfied  fully  for  all  our  sins.  The  business 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM        23 

man  has  become  involved  in  debt,  slowly,  stead- 
ily, for  years.  At  the  close  of  a  period  of  anxiety 
his  creditors  are  about  to  sell  him  out,  and  so 
notify  him.  He  goes  home  at  the  close  of  that 
day,  and  all  the  world  is  dark  to  him, — he  has 
failed — he  must  tell  his  wife  and  children,  their 
home  must  be  given  up, — his  friends  will  soon 
know  it, — the  whole  community  will  know  it, — 
his  helpless  failure  shrouds  his  whole  world  in 
gloom.  Now  his  greatest  creditor  comes  to  him, 
— he  has  not  seen  him  in  years, — he  proves  to 
be  the  friend  of  his  youth.  He  says: 

"I  cannot  see  you  fail.  I  will  satisfy  your 
other  lesser  creditors.  I,  your  chief  creditor,  will 
sacrifice  myself  for  you.  I  will  even  go  in  busi- 
ness with  you  as  your  partner.  We  will  renew 
companionship,  the  friendship  of  our  boyhood 
days."  Who  can  tell  how  the  gloom  of  failure 
passes  away  before  such  sacrifice,  before  such 
ransom,  and  how  the  renewed  friendship  will 
incite  to  effort  and  success.  But  any  business 
affair  of  modern  life  can  throw  but  little  light 
upon  the  great  mystery  of  Christ's  sacrifice  for 
us  in  His  infinite  love,  of  His  paying  our  debts 
even  to  Himself,  to  divine  justice,  of  His  satis- 
fying for  all  our  sins.  Before  God  we  are  hope- 
lessly in  debt,  complete  and  absolute  failures,  our 
future  filled  with  gloom,  and  Christ,  the  Son  of 
God,  takes  our  place,  pays  our  debts,  satisfies 
completely  for  us, — yes,  even  becomes  our  surety, 
our  partner  for  all  the  future.  And  all  out  of 
love  for  us.     Surely  in  gratitude  and  devotion, 


24        THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

we  will  not  try  any  longer  to  live  for  ourselves. 
We  belong  to  Him,  we  will  live  with  Him  and 
for  Him. 

So  also  He  has  delivered  me  from  all  the  power 
of  the  devil.  We  can  easily  in  these  dreadful 
days  of  warfare  imagine  the  hard  lot  of  one 
taken  captive  by  the  enemy  and  held  fast  in 
prison, — day  and  night  the  hardship,  the  gloom  of 
his  captivity  oppresses  him.  Then  one  dark  night 
his  old  Captain  holding  him  in  high  esteem  risks 
his  life,  fights  his  way  through  the  guards,  comes 
to  the  prison  door,  forces  it  open,  awakens  the 
sleeping  prisoner,  gives  him  a  sword,  and  now 
together,  his  Captain  and  he  fight  their  way 
back  through  their  foes  to  their  own  army  and 
freedom  again.  Think  you  that  rescued  soldier 
can  ever  forget  the  gloom  of  prison,  and  that 
he  owes  his  freedom  to  the  love  and  sacrifice 
of  his  Captain,  surely  he  will  be  loyal  to  the 
Captain  his  whole  life  long.  But  any  deliverance 
from  a  bodily  prison  can  throw  little  light  upon 
Christ's  deliverance  from  our  spiritual  bondage. 

This  seems  to  be  only  in  the  past,  but  it  is 
not  altogether  so.  It  is  true  the  saving  acts  of 
ransom  and  deliverance  were  wrought  by  Christ 
while  He  lived  upon  the  earth  centuries  ago. 
He  loved  us  then  with  the  wonderful  love  which 
led  Him  to  die  the  shameful  death  of  the  Cross 
for  us.  But  He  lives.  Who  once  was  dead,  the 
triumphant  and  glorious  Savior,  and  He  loves  us 
now  with  the  same  wonderful  love.  He  forgives 
and  He  renews  us  in  His  spirit  today.     So  we 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM        25 

think  of  our  past  when  we  first  became  conscious 
of  our  sins  and  sought  His  forgiveness,  when 
we  first  saw  the  hideous  nature  and  malignant 
designs  of  sin,  the  Prince  of  the  world,  and 
sought  Christ's  deliverance.  Christ  was  our 
Savior  when  we  first  trusted  Him;  just  as  truly 
He  is  our  Savior  today.  He  is  enthroned  in 
power  and  glory.  He  lives  and  He  loves  and  He 
saves  us  today,  He  ransoms  and  He  delivers. 

The  answer  of  the  Catechism  describes  now 
the  comfort  of  belonging  to  Christ  in  all  the 
varied  experiences  of  the  present  life.  Christ 
owns  me.  He  will  take  care  of  His  own.  Christ 
says: 

"No  one  shall  pluck  them  out  of  My  hand." 

Paul  says: 

"All  things  work  together  for  good  to  them 
that  love  God." 

Christ  says: 

"Abide  in  Me  and  I  in  you." 

Paul  says: 

"If  when  we  were  enemies  we  were  reconciled 
to  God  by  the  death  of  His  Son  much  more  being 
reconciled  we  shall  be  saved  by  His  life." 

He  Who  loved  us  so  He  died  for  us  now  loves 
us  as  He  lives  for  us.  This  does  not  mean  the 
believer  will  have  only  an  easy  time  in  this  life. 
He  may  have  hard  battles  to  fight  with  the  evil 
within  him  and  without  him, — battles  calling  for 
all  his  courage  and  strength,  but  his  great  Cap- 
tain is  leading  and  watching  him.  He  may  have 
great  duties  to  do  calling  for  all  his   devotion 


26        THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

and  care,  but  God's  grace  is  sufficient  for  him. 
He  may  have  heavy  trials  to  bear  heavy  and 
long  continuing,  but  Christ  assures  him,  "I  am 
with  thee,  I  will  not  leave  thee  nor  forsake  thee." 
The  believer  too  is  sailing  on  the  mysterious  sea 
of  life — it  may  be  very  dark  and  tempestuous, 
the  winds  and  the  waves  seek  his  destruction,  but 
in  the  roar  of  the  storm  he  may  shout  "All's 
Well,"  for  his  Captain  is  on  board  and  in  full 
command.  Also  if  the  sea  is  smooth,  the  sky 
clear  and  the  wind  fair  this  voyager  on  life's 
ocean  is  not  drifting,  he  is  sailing  to  a  fair 
harbor. 

The  answer  of  the  Catechism  now  speaks  of 
the  future.  I  belong  unto  Christ  and  "he  assures 
me  of  eternal  life."  Christ  says  to  his  disciples, 
"Where  I  am  there  ye  shall  be  also."  Paul  says : 
"I  have  a  desire  to  depart  and  to  be  with  Christ 
which  is  far  better." 

Eternal  life  begins  now.  Christ  says:  "This 
is  life  eternal  to  know  God  and  Jesus  Christ 
whom  he  has  sent."  To  know  Christ,  to  trust 
Him,  to  adore  Him,  to  love  Him  is  to  be  led  by 
His  Holy  Spirit  and  to  be  sincerely  willing  to  live 
unto  Him — an  ever  growing  appreciation,  friend- 
ship, and  intermingling  of  life  with  Christ — a  life 
growing  in  his  likeness.  Here  amid  the  many 
blessings,  the  great  service  of  this  life,  here  amid 
the  many  duties  and  temptations  of  this  life, 
here  amid  the  growth  and  discipline  of  this  life. 
What  of  the  life  beyond  ? 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM        27 

We  know  but  little  of  the  circumstances,  of 
the  eternal  life  beyond  earth's  varied  scenes.  It 
is  so  glorious  that  it  cannot  be  fully  described  in 
our  language  arising  only  out  of  an  earthly 
experience.  Let  it  suffice,  we  will  be  with  Christ 
where  He  is.  What  is  good  enough  for  Him  will 
be  good  enough  for  us.  We  belong  to  Him  and 
He  loves  us  so  He  wills  to  have  us  with  Him  in 
eternity. 

So  let  the  worldling  seek  something  richer  far 
than  all  he  now  possesses.  Let  the  troubled  in 
conscience  find  relief  in  trusting  Christ.  Let 
the  believer  learn  more  and  more  in  his  deep 
experience  of  the  comfort  of  belonging  to  his 
faithful  savior  Jesus  Christ. 

Let  us  all  having  spiritual  life  come  into  full 
harmony  with  our  highest  and  all  inclusive  en- 
vironment, with  our  God,  our  Father  revealed  in 
His  Son,  by  the  Holy  Spirit! 


II. 


SECOND  LORD'S  DAY  OF  THE 
HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 


"NATURE  OF  SIN" 

By  the  works  of  the  law  shall  no  flesh 
be  justified  in  His  sight  for  by  the  law  is 
the  knowledge  of  sin. — ROM.  3:20. 

THE  Epistie  to  the  Romans  is  divided  into 
three  parts.  The  first  part  shows  that  all 
men  are  sinners  under  the  law,  Jew  and 
Gentile  alike  and  it  ends  with  our  text.  The 
second  part  shows  there  is  full  and  free  salva- 
tion for  all  by  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  and  it 
ends  with  the  11th  Chapter.  The  remainder  of 
the  Epistle  is  an  exhortation  to  believers  in 
Christ  to  lead  a  holy  life. 

Our  Catechism  is  constructed  upon  the  plan  of 
the  Epistle  to  the  Romans.  The  second  question 
concisely  sets  forth  this  plan.  Our  text  says  the 
law  of  God  brings  us  to  a  knowledge  of  our  sin. 

The  Catechism  says  that  our  knowledge  of  our 
misery  is  a  necessary  step  to  securing  comfort. 
One  may  be  in  danger  and  not  know  it — he  may 
be  sound  asleep  in  a  burning  house, — he  may 
have  a  deadly  disease  and  not  feel  it.  He  is  a 
true  friend  who  will  wake  him  up  in  time  to 
escape,  who  will  make  him  conscious  of  his 
disease  in  time  to  apply  sufficient  remedy  to  it. 

28 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM        29 

A  wise  and  brave  man  desires  to  know  his  true 
condition  with  reference  to  physical  dangers  that 
he  may  properly  treat  them.  With  regard  to 
spiritual  diseases  and  dangers  it  behooves  each 
one  of  us  to  face  the  truth  however  miserable  it 
may  make  us,  for  there  may  be  a  remedy,  there 
may  be  an  escape.  In  ignorance  there  is  death, 
in  knowledge  there  is  life. 

Let  us  now  therefore  frankly,  fully,  and 
courageously  compare  ourselves  with  the  law  of 
God.  How  do  we  measure  up  to  the  standard  of 
the  law  of  our  being?  Christ  teaches  us  this 
law  briefly: 

"Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all 
thy  heart,  with  all  thy  soul,  with  all  thy  mind 
and  with  all  thy  strength.  This  is  the  first  and 
great  commandment,  and  the  second  is  like  unto 
it:    Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself." 

As  soon  as  the  law  is  declared  there  is  some- 
thing within  us  that  instantly  responds  "The  law 
is  right."  God  has  given  us  all  our  powers  and 
preserves  us  in  their  enjoyment,  they  should 
turn  to  Him  as  naturally  as  flowers  turn  to  the 
sun.  Each  one  is  a  creature  of  God, — he  should 
love  himself  as  such  a  creature.  Every  other 
man  is  likewise  a  creature  of  God.  Each  one 
should  love  each  other  as  he  loves  himself.  The 
proper  love  of  one's  self  is  the  standard  of  the 
love  for  one's  neighbor.  Each  one  should  love 
one's  self  to  make  the  most  possible  out  of  him- 
self according  to  the  ideal  of  God.  Call  this,  if 
you  please,  to  make  himself  the  super-man.   Then 


30        THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

he  should  love  every  other  man  as  he  loves  him- 
self, to  make  him  too  a  super-man, — far  above 
man's  present  ideals  to  reach  God's  ideal.  In- 
stead of  one's  self  struggling  in  seeking  from 
another  or  even  oppressing  that  other,  true  self 
seeking  becomes  seeking  the  best  for  every  other 
man  also. 

There  are  three  striking  particulars  in  vi^hich 
this  law  diifers  from  laws  made  by  man. 

First, — It  is  Universal.  The  fact  that  it 
awakens  this  instant  response  shows  it  is  already 
written  in  our  nature.  It  is  not  for  a  single 
nation  but  for  the  race.  True  there  are  some 
portions  of  the  race  who  know  it  clearly — the 
Christian  portions.  There  are  others  who  know 
it  dimly  or  not  at  all, — the  heathen  portions. 
The  law  is  written  upon  their  nature  but  it  is 
so  blurred  they  do  not  read  it. 

Let  us  not  think  about  them, — how  they  will 
be  judged.  Let  us  leave  that  to  God, — surely  the 
Judge  of  all  the  earth  will  do  right. 

Let  us  look  steadily  at  our  own  case  as  we 
face  this  universal  law  of  our  being,  for  there 
is  not  a  single  one  of  us  exempt  from  it. 

In  the  second  place  this  law  is  spiritual.  The 
laws  made  by  man  command  outward  obedience. 
Keeping  the  letter  satisfies  such  laws.  But  in 
this  law  there  is  no  letter,  it  is  all  spirit.  Not 
an  outward  act  is  commanded  but  an  inward: 
the  mind,  the  heart,  the  soul,  to  love  with  all 
one's  strength;  the  outward  acts  follow  as  pure 
water  flows  from  a  pure  spring. 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM        31 

There  are  several  features  of  love  we  are  very- 
familiar  with  among  ourselves.  Love  delights  in 
the  one  loved,  to  be  in  his  presence,  or  to  think 
about  him  gives  pleasure.  Then  also  love  strives 
to  please  the  one  loved,  consults  him  and  acts  in 
harmony  with  his  tastes  and  desires.  Then  also 
love  seeks  a  return  love,  and  strives  in  constant 
and  strong  feeling  and  action  to  awaken  and 
strengthen  such  return  love.  When  we  thus 
analyze  love  we  see  the  kind  of  acts  that  will 
flow  from  it;  they  will  not  be  irksome,  not  from 
fear,  but  from  delight — striving  to  please  God 
and  rejoicing  in  His  love  for  us. 

In  the  third  place  this  law  is  distinguished 
from  all  man  made  laws  in  that  God  made  it. 
Man  makes  laws  for  his  own  government  as  he 
discovers  his  needs.  Man  is  by  nature  a  social 
being  and  his  relation  to  his  fellows  forms  the 
basis  of  many  of  his  laws.  He  has  an  ideal  of 
God,  often  very  high,  as  also  a  social  being  and 
forms  rules  of  action  based  on  his  relation  to 
Him.  But  no  enactment  of  man,  however  lofty, 
has  attained  to  this  perfect  law.  Besides  in  the 
supernatural  revelation  of  God  culminating  in 
Jesus  Christ  we  find  this  law  described  as  com- 
ing direct  from  God.  He  is  the  great  law  giver 
of  this  perfect  law. 

Two  truths  are  thus  clearly  brought  to  our 
attention.  God  had  a  plan  in  making  man, — a 
plan  in  His  eternal,  all-wise,  and  all-powerful 
mind  before  man  was  created.  This  law  there- 
fore is  the  exact  description   of  that  plan;   it 


32        THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

shows  the  purpose  of  God  in  creating  man  and 
so  it  defines  and  describes  all  man's  powers. 
Man  is  the  intelligent  maker  of  many  things. 
The  plan  exists  in  his  mind  before  the  thing  is 
made;  for  example,  a  clock, — the  plan  is  a  law 
for  the  clock,  it  is  constructed  to  measure  time; 
to  set  it  to  do  any  other  kind  of  work  degrades 
it  and  dishonors  its  maker. 

Since  God  is  infinitely  good  and  has  at  infinite 
pains  through  all  ages  created  man ;  the  highest 
honor  and  highest  good  for  man  is  to  fulfill 
God's  plan  in  accomplishing  the  object  for  which 
he  was  made.  To  live  any  other  kind  of  life 
degrades  man  and  dishonors  God.  Man's  high- 
est happiness  can  only  be  found  in  attaining 
God's  plan,  in  keeping  His  perfect  law  of  love. 

The  other  truth  clearly  seen  is  that  the  author- 
ity of  the  law  giver  cannot  be  questioned  and  so 
the  law  is  the  expression  of  His  nature.  Some- 
times it  may  be  a  question  of  a  man  made  law 
whether  it  does  not  exceed  its  authority  and  so 
condemn  itself.  Here  the  authority  is  clear.  It 
cannot  be  exceeded  and  thus  only  the  character 
of  God  is  seen  in  it.  How  much  God  cares  for 
man's  obedience  may  be  seen  in  the  value  He 
places  upon  a  man  as  he  gives  this  law  describ- 
ing him.  God  is  infinitely  good  and  the  law  is 
the  expression  of  His  goodness.  The  right  of 
the  good  God  to  govern  His  creatures  is  un- 
questioned. The  law  therefore  flows  from  the 
goodness  of  God  and  so  expresses  it  as  truly 
as  it  describes  man's  powers. 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM        33 

We  are  now  ready  to  consider  the  next  question 
of  the  Catechism,  it  is  intensely  personal  and  it 
requires  our  faithful  consideration  and  so  enters 
into  the  deep  experience  of  each  one  of  us. 

Can  you  keep  all  these  things  perfectly?     In 
no  wise,  is  the  answer  given.     In  no  wise  for  I 
am  prone  by  nature  to  hate  God  and  my  neigh- 
bor.    If  the  question  was:    Have  you  kept  this 
law  perfectly?    I  suppose  each  one  of  us  would 
answer,  if  we  thought  seriously  at  all, — No,  I 
have  not.    If  the  question  was :   Do  you  keep  this 
law  perfectly?     I  suppose  each  one  of  us  would 
be  compelled  to  answer, — No,  I  do  not.     But  the 
question  is  deeper:    Can  you  keep  it  perfectly? 
It  covers  the  other  two  by  asking  the  reason: 
Why  have  you  not  kept  it  ?    Why  do  you  not  keep 
it?    It  goes  still  deeper:    Why  have  you  come — 
why  do  you  come  so  far  short  of  it?     It  goes 
still  deeper:   Is  your  disobedience  merely  a  nega- 
tive— a  failure  to  keep  it — or  is  it  a  positive  one 
— a  transgression — a  doing  the  reverse,  a  hat- 
ing?    I  suppose  each  one  of  us  would  hesitate 
about    using   that    strong   word    hate    still    the 
Apostle  Paul  uses  a  word  like  it.     He  says  the 
carnal,  that  is,   *'The  natural  mind,   is   enmity 
against  God,  is  not  subject  to  the  law  of  God, 
neither  indeed  can  be."     The  Catechism  softens 
the  harsh  hard  word,  enmity,  a  little  by  saying: 
I  am  prone  to  hate — . 

But  is  even  that  so?  Can  I  truthfully  say  it 
describes  me?  I  am  indifferent  to  God.  I  ignore 
Him  and  His  law.     I  neglect  my  fellowman.     I 


34        THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

do  not  care  for  him,  but  I  go  no  further.  I  do 
not  hate  either  one.  But  consider  a  little.  Sup- 
pose you  have  set  your  heart  upon  some  object, 
made  it  the  one  thing  you  live  for,  and  God 
forbids  it  and  opposes  you,  or  man  sets  himself 
across  your  path  and  tries  to  defeat  you.  You 
are,  as  you  say,  careless  and  indifferent  about 
God  and  man,  if  all  goes  v^ell,  but  if  they  are 
strongly  and  persistently  against  you,  if  they 
stand  across  your  cherished  life  effort  and  you 
still  press  on,  is  there  not  something  resembling 
hate  aw^akened  in  your  strong  and  losing  fight? 
A  proneness  may  not  be  open  and  extreme  at  all 
times  but  it  arouses  itself  against  God's  holiness 
and  justice,  it  arouses  itself  against  man  when 
he  becomes  disagreeable  to  us,  v^hen  he  dislikes 
and  hates  and  fights  us;  it  lies  in  the  depths  of 
our  nature,  and  as  by  a  flash  it  sometimes  gives 
us  a  hideous  sight  of  ourselves.  Call  it  what 
you  will,  there  is  something  in  our  nature  op- 
posed to  God  and  man,  that  violates  the  law  of 
love,  does  not  keep  it,  is  prone  to  break  it.  In 
proportion  as  this  is  true  of  each  one  of  us,  or 
rather  in  proportion  as  we  are  conscious  of  its 
truth,  we  must  recognize  it  as  a  condition  f  rought 
with  danger,  a  miserable  condition.  We  may  be 
loath  to  look  at  it  steadily  and  in  detail,  but 
surely  it  is  our  interest  to  know  the  whole  truth, 
and  we  should  bravely  and  frankly  seek  this 
knowledge. 

There  are  clearly  three  elements  of  misery  in 
disobeying  this  law  of  love: 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM        35 

The  first  is  the  absence  of  the  noble  character 
and  high  happiness  of  which  man  is  capable  in 
this  law  of  his  being.  It  is  the  law  of  his  being, 
of  his  whole  nature  so  designed  by  his  creator. 
Man  tries  to  find  happiness  in  power,  honor, 
riches,  friends,  in  various  ways,  by  great  efforts ; 
he  attains  some  happiness  through  the  fragments 
of  love  he  cherishes,  also  through  the  activity 
of  his  powers,  but  he  misses  the  full  happiness 
that  can  only  come  from  the  full  love  of  God 
and  man.  He  has  great  powers  given  him  for  a 
noble  purpose;  ignoring  the  purpose  or  oppos- 
ing it,  the  powers  however  great  can  never  be 
satisfied;  they  wear  themselves  out  in  fruitless 
effort ;  their  greatness  makes  their  failure  pitiful. 
Happiness  above  us,  beyond  us,  out  of  our  reach, 
and  yet  we  know  we  were  made  for  it,  that  we 
could  have  it  if  we  would  try  for  it  in  the  right 
way, — this  surely  is  an  element  of  misery. 

The  second  element  of  misery  in  disobeying 
the  law  of  our  being  is  in  the  existence  and  the 
possible  raging  of  evil  passions.  To  name  them 
is  to  see  their  hideous  nature,  Avarice,  Lust, 
Pride,  Envy,  Jealousy,  and  that  thing  we  are 
prone  to.  Hatred.  Who  would  welcome  such 
powers?  But  they  are  within  us  in  the  place 
where  full  love  of  God  and  man  should  be.  We 
would  not  have  the  angel  of  light  and  love  dwell- 
ing in  us  so  the  serpents  of  darkness  and  hate 
are  there.  And  while  we  try  to  keep  them  quiet 
generally,  there  arise  provocations  and  tempta- 
tions when  they  rage  within  us  and  torment  us 


36        THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

with  their  spite.  And  how  they  often  rage  in 
this  world  that  refuses  to  love  God,  how  they 
rage  in  the  social  relations  of  man,  in  social  life, 
business  life,  political  life, — how  they  sometimes 
break  forth  in  cruel  war  among  nations.  Over 
all  the  tumult  and  strife,  over  all  the  cruelty 
and  conflict,  over  all  the  oppression  and  want, 
there  speaks  the  law  of  God — Love — Love.  If 
men  would  only  listen  and  obey,  the  tumult  would 
hush,  the  conflict  cease,  the  oppression  and  want 
pass  away  forever.  But  let  us  not  think  of  the 
race,  of  the  mass  of  men  except  as  we  are  a 
part  of  it.  Let  us  look  steadily  at  our  own 
nature.  Each  one  of  us  must  see  the  misery  of 
having  such  hideous  passions  within  us. 

The  third  element  of  misery  in  our  disobeying 
the  law  of  our  being  is  the  awakening  of  an 
accusing  conscience.  Here  also  let  us  be  faithful 
with  ourselves.  Do  not  let  us  say  too  hard 
things  about  ourselves,  nor  too  soft  things,  let 
us  clearly  look  at  the  truth.  Law  grows  upon 
us  as  we  consider  its  nature  in  its  source.  The 
law  of  a  township  may  be  a  small  matter.  One 
breaks  it  and  pays  the  fine.  The  conscience  is 
quiet.  The  law  of  a  nation  is  a  much  greater 
matter.  The  element  of  this  disloyalty,  of  treason 
may  enter  it  and  the  whole  nation  arises  to 
punish.  Here  conscience  is  disturbed.  Go  a  step 
higher.  One  breaks  a  law  of  humanity.  There 
are  extradition  laws  among  civilized  nations.  All 
humanity  now  arises  to  punish.  The  man  is  the 
outcast,  abhorred  by  all.    His  conscience  now  is 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM        37 

terrible.  One  step  higher.  One  breaks  a  law 
of  God.  One  breaks  the  law  of  His  own  being. 
Where  will  he  fly  now,  beyond  township  lines, 
beyond  the  nation's  boundary,  beyond  the  reach 
of  humanity  to  some  Island  of  the  Sea?  What 
difference  does  it  make?  He  cannot  fly  from 
himself,  from  his  aroused  conscience.  He  can- 
not fly  from  God. 

The  law  grows  upon  us  as  we  consider  the 
rights  invaded.  In  this  case  it  is  not  the  rights 
of  a  child,  perhaps  we  could  make  that  right 
again.  It  includes  the  rights  of  many  children; 
it  is  not  merely  the  rights  of  a  man,  of  a  nation, 
or  of  humanity;  it  includes  all  these,  but  it  is 
far  greater, — we  have  invaded  the  rights  of  God. 

There  are  many  words  in  use  among  ourselves 
and  they  are  hideous  enough  when  so  used.  They 
become  terrible  when  used  in  reference  to  God. 
One  steals,  takes  something  from  another,  usual- 
ly it  is  small  compared  to  the  other's  possessions. 
Here  one  steals  from  God  and  he  takes  all  God's 
possessions  he  can  lay  his  hands  on,  for  all  his 
powers  belong  to  God.  One  commits  a  breach 
of  trust.  In  this  case  man  is  God's  steward 
and  here  he  has  taken  all  God  has  intrusted  to  his 
care.  We  abhor  injustice,  ingratitude,  disloyalty 
among  men.  These  are  far  worse  in  reference 
to  God. 

What  shall  we  do?  We  are  not  satisfied,  have 
not  the  happiness  God  longs  to  give  us.  We 
have  sinful  passions  within  us,  which  bring  onlj?- 
evil   in   their   exercise.      We   have   an   accusing 


38        THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

conscience.  We  have  broken  the  law  of  our 
being.  Our  conscience  cannot  say  too  hard  things 
against  us. 

Oh  my  soul!  Unsatisfied,  sinful,  conscience- 
stricken, — where  will  you  go?  Will  you  go  to 
sleep ;  only  to  awaken  to  the  same  condition.  Will 
you  plunge  into  worldly  business  and  pleasure 
when  you  know  they  cannot  satisfy  you? 

Where  will  you  go?  Why  not  go  to  Jesus 
Christ?  Can  you  live  without  Him?  In  His 
life  this  law  shines  in  perfect  obedience.  He 
loved  God,  His  Father,  supremely.  He  loved 
Himself,  was  the  perfect  Man  fulfilling  God's 
ideal  of  manhood.  He  loved  His  fellow-men  as 
Himself  to  lift  them  to  the  ideal  of  God.  He 
loved  each  one  of  us  more  than  Himself,  loved  us 
so  He  died  for  us,  to  redeem  us  from  our  sins. 
He  is  seeking  you  and  seeking  you  to  save  you, 
to  bless  you  with  His  saving  love.  He  is  even 
now  using  your  present  thoughtfulness,  perhaps 
distress  to  win  you  to  himself.  Commit  your 
soul's  salvation  to  Jesus  Christ!     Trust  Him! 


III. 


THIRD  LORD'S  DAY  OF  THE 
HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 


"ORIGIN  AND  EXTENT  OF  SIN" 

For  as  through  the  one  man's  disobedi- 
ence the  many  were  made  sinners  even  so 
through  the  obedience  of  the  one  shall  the 
many  be  made  righteous. — RoM.  5:19. 

THE  Second  Lord's  Day  of  our  Catechism 
held  before  us  the  law  of  God  as  the 
standard  of  character. 

When  we  examined  ourselves  by  this  law  we 
were  compelled  to  confess  that  we  did  not  love 
God  supremely,  that  we  did  not  even  love  our 
neighbor  as  ourselves — on  the  contrary  that  there 
was  a  nature  within  us  prone  to  hate  both  God 
and  our  neighbor. 

Several  questions  now  arise  in  the  thoughtful 
mind  of  vast  importance  to  us  and  this  Lord's 
Day  of  the  Catechism  gives  frank  answers  to 
them — questions  concerning  the  extent,  the  de- 
gree and  the  source  of  our  sinfulness  under  this 
law  of  our  being. 

Concerning  the  extent  of  sinfulness  we  can 
readily  see  that  it  is  universal.  We  may  be 
better  than  some  of  our  fellow-men,  or  we  may 
be  worse  than  some,  but  none  of  us  will  claim 
that  we  are  different  from  them.     We  belong  to 

39 


40        THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

the  race  of  mankind.  We  are  like  our  fellow- 
men  as  far  as  we  have  observed  ourselves  and 
them,  in  our  views  and  feelings,  in  our  appe- 
tites and  passions,  in  our  plans  and  actions — we 
belong  to  a  race  that  is  sinful. 

We  look  back  over  history  and  from  the  time 
the  first  ranks  of  men  emerge  from  the  mist  of 
the  remote  past  until  the  present  day  is  reached 
— among  savages,  among  barbarians,  among  the 
civilized,  while  there  has  been  great  advance — 
many  noble  lives,  many  ideals  and  many  great 
attainments,  the  race  as  a  race  has  not  kept  and 
does  not  keep  the  law  of  love.  Whatever  we 
may  think  of  some  of  the  theories  of  science, 
there  is  manifest  reason  to  speak  of  the  "strug- 
gle for  existence"  and  of  "the  survival  of  the 
fittest."  Whatever  attainment  there  has  been 
made  by  the  strong  over  the  weak,  whatever  of 
advance  in  great  classes  of  men  has  been  reached, 
still  no  race  of  mankind  and  no  individual  of 
any  race  has  attained  to  anything  near  perfec- 
tion according  to  this  law  of  our  being.  What- 
ever sympathy  there  may  have  been  awakened  for 
the  fallen,  and  helpfulness  for  the  weak,  there  has 
been  and  there  is  now  a  proneness  to  hate  both 
God  and  Man.  Often  a  peaceful  and  prosperous 
civilization  has  been  but  the  surface  under  which 
jealousies  and  hatreds  of  nations  were  burning, 
and  just  now  in  our  day  these  seething  passions 
have  exploded  in  Europe  in  the  greatest  and 
most  cruel  war  of  the  history  of  the  race.  Then, 
too,  when  we  examine  the  Scriptures  their  super- 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM        41 

natural  revelation  of  God  is  evidently  made  to  a 
sinful  race,  it  culminates  in  Jesus  Christ  who 
came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners. 

Now,  let  us  look  at  the  degree  of  our  sinful- 
ness. Is  it  a  mere  surface  matter  not  controlling 
the  depths  of  our  being,  is  it  a  kind  of  disease 
which  has  fastened  itself  upon  an  otherwise 
healthy  person  and  which  may  be  perhaps  easily 
cast  off? 

It  is  very  important  that  we  should  have  clear 
views  of  the  true  case — that  we  should  be  sternly 
faithful  to  ourselves  in  this  matter. 

It  is  quite  evident  it  has  not  been  cast  off  by 
any  considerable  portion  of  the  race;  it  has  not 
even  been  cast  entirely  off  by  a  single  individual. 

There  have  been  many  deeds  of  heroism  and 
self-sacrifice,  our  human  nature  is  capable  of 
great  things,  but  still  it  is  under  sin — it  has  not 
cast  it  off — not  become  free  from  it. 

Then  besides  we  ourselves  whatever  great  efforts 
we  have  made  have  found  it  impossible  to  cast 
it  off.  We  may  have  sudued  this  or  that  evil 
propensity,  but  certainly  not  all  such  propensi- 
ties. If  anyone  should  claim  "I  am  free  from 
sin,"  "I  am  perfect,"  our  neighbors  would  ridi- 
cule us.  But  none  of  us  makes  such  a  claim. 
The  danger  is  our  being  satisfied  with  a  low 
attainment,  of  being  contented  to  be  sinful,  of 
satisfying  ourselves  that  we  have  certain  good 
traits,  that  we  are  generally  pretty  good,  at  any 
rate  not  as  bad  as  some  others. 

This  experience  personal  and  of  the  race  is 


42        THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

confirmed  by  the  Scriptures.  Christ  said  "Ex- 
cept one  be  born  anew  he  cannot  see  the  Kingdom 
of  God."  The  Apostle  Paul  said  "Ye  were  dead 
through  your  trespasses  and  sins." 

The  Catechism  states  the  degree  of  our  sin- 
fulness in  very  strong  terms — it  says,  "we  are 
so  corrupt  that  we  are  wholly  incapable  of  doing 
any  good  and  are  inclined  to  all  wickedness." 

Before  we  can  accept  this  statement,  we  must 
try  to  understand  it. 

We  judge  men  by  their  motives.  We  look  at 
the  character  back  of  the  action.  Is  the  supreme 
love  of  God  and  the  proper  love  of  man  the 
motive?  The  character?  Yes.  Then  the  action 
is  absolutely  good.  No.  Then  the  action  may  be 
relatively  good  by  other  standards,  but  it  is 
not  wholly  good  by  this  standard.  There  is  much 
relative  good  in  the  world — here  is  a  good  fam- 
ily— a  good  husband  and  father,  a  good  mother 
and  children.  Good  brothers  and  sisters.  Good 
certainly,  and  blessed  therein.  So  in  our  sight. 
So  in  God's  sight  as  far  as  it  goes;  and  God 
rejoices  therein  and  approves  to  that  extent. 
But  it  is  quite  possible  he  may  see  in  each 
family  an  entire  absence  of  any  thought  of  God 
or  love  for  Him,  and  also  a  great  lack  of  love 
for  their  fellow-men.  There  is  relative  good  in 
such  a  case — and  there  may  be  many  such  cases 
— but  no  absolute  good. 

So  a  man  may  be  a  good  citizen,  giving  him- 
self to  the  welfare  of  his  country  on  the  battle- 
field,  in   legislative   hall,    in   official    station,    in 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM        43 

private  life.  He  is  relatively  good  in  our  sight, 
and  of  course  in  God's  sight.  Yet  God  may  see 
in  him  no  affection  for  God,  no  gratitude  to  Him, 
no  desire  even  to  obey  His  law,  and  the  man 
sees  it  himself  and  acknowledges  it.  There  is  no 
absolute  good  in  him. 

We  may  imagine  that  this  earth  sweeps  out  of 
its  orbit  at  a  slight  angle,  or  at  a  greater  one; 
it  would  carry  its  hills  and  mountains,  its  valleys 
and  plains,  its  rivers  and  oceans  with  it  and  for 
a  while  they  would  be  lighted  in  btciuty  and 
warmed  in  life  by  the  sun  it  was  leaving.  Still 
leaving  the  Sun  it  would  be  slowly  perhaps  but 
surely  going  out  into  the  chill  and  darkness  of 
death.  Man  has  noble  powers  that  may  result 
in  many  noble  actions;  he  carries  these  with 
him;  they  are  a  part  of  himself  when  he  sweeps 
out  of  his  orbit;  but  his  sole,  absolute  good  is 
to  revolve  about  God,  to  love  him  supremely; 
and  of  this  he  is  wholly  incapable ;  the  only  hope 
for  him  is  that  the  Sun — his  God  will  again 
draw  him  from  his  wandering  out  in  darkness 
back  into  the  orbit  of  true  life  and  light. 

This  corruption  permeates  our  whole  being, 
there  is  no  part  of  our  nature  free  from  it,  evil 
clings  to  our  imagination,  our  memory,  our 
reasoning,  our  will,  the  whole  earth,  the  whole 
man  is  out  of  his  orbit,  the  slightest  introspection 
shows  the  corruption  not  only  of  our  physical 
nature,  appetites  and  passions,  but  of  our  spiri- 
tual as  well,  as  our  thoughts,  our  feelings,  our 
desires. 


44       THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

The  opposite  of  good  now  faces  us — wicked- 
ness. What  one  of  us  but  recognizes  that  we 
need  restraint — we  need  the  relative  good  within 
us  and  about  us.  Above  all  we  need  the  grace 
of  our  God  to  keep  us  from  going  out  into  the 
chill  and  darkness  of  wickedness  and  death. 

Some  may  call  this  the  doctrine  of  total  de- 
pravity. That  is  an  unfortunate  combination  of 
strong  words — and  gives  us  the  terrible  indict- 
ment that  we  are  as  bad  as  we  can  be.  This  is 
not  held  by  anyone;  it  is  far  from  true — and  is 
carefully  avoided  by  our  Catechism.  But  we  are 
depraved,  corrupt,  and  this  corruption  is  total 
in  the  sense  that  it  extends  to  our  whole  nature 
and  inclines  us  to  all  wickedness.  We  are  in- 
clined that  way,  we  are  sweeping  in  that  direc- 
tion, but  we  have  not  reached  that  extreme. 

It  is  very  important  we  should  have  right 
views  of  our  sinfulness.  Wrong  conceptions  of 
sin  lead  to  wrong  conceptions  of  salvation  from 
sin.  None  can  see  the  glorious  light  of  the  cross 
of  Christ  until  he  beholds  it  rising  upon  and  dis- 
pelling the  black  darkness  of  sin. 

But  here  an  awful  thought  assails  us.  We 
are  corrupt.  We  cannot  deny  it,  but  we  are  not 
to  blame  for  it;  it  is  not  our  fault.  God  made 
us  so. 

If  this  is  true  it  shrouds  us  in  absolute  despair. 
If  our  corruption  comes  from  God  then  He  must 
be  corrupt  since  He  is  the  source  of  it;  then  He 
neither  can  nor  will  lift  us  out  of  our  corruption 
nor  rescue  us  from  black  wickedness  and  despair. 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM        45 

Sometimes  we  are  repelled  by  the  thought  of 
the  absolute  holiness  of  God — we  think  that  he 
should  be  something  as  we  are,  but  when  we 
reflect  we  recognize  that  the  only  hope  of  us 
sinful  men  is  in  an  absolutely  holy  God. 

This  brings  us  to  consider  the  source  of  our 
sinfulness.  The  Catechism  questions  whence  pro- 
ceeds the  depravity  of  human  nature. 

Here  our  own  experience  and  the  history  of 
the  race  give  little  answer. 

When  each  of  us  became  conscious  of  our  own 
existence  we  became  conscious  of  being  sinful, 
of  belonging  to  a  sinful  race. 

When  we  go  back  as  far  as  possible  in  history 
beyond  written  history,  with  traditions  and 
legends  we  see  plain  evidence  that  mankind  was 
even  then  a  sinful  race.  As  far  as  we  can  trace 
the  stream  back  it  is  a  corrupt  stream;  but  we 
cannot  reach  the  source. 

Some  learned  men  have  held  the  theory  that 
the  race  of  men  came  from  several  heads  or 
sources,  was  evolved  in  different  climes.  But  the 
difference  everywhere  found  between  the  lowest 
man  and  the  highest  animal,  in  the  sense  of  right 
and  wrong  in  the  aspirations  and  motives  above 
the  intellectual  seems  to  confute  such  theories. 
The  theory  arising  from  such  origins  of  the  ad- 
vance secured  by  effort  and  education  is  also  con- 
futed by  the  failure  to  attain  in  any  single 
instance,  to  this  perfection  as  described  by  the 
ideal  of  God's  law. 


46        THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

Here  the  Bible  gives  us  our  only  light.  In- 
fidelity ridicules  the  story  of  Adam,  but  even 
here  it  manifests  its  destructive  evidence,  for 
it  has  nothing  to  take  its  place,  and  destroying 
that  it  destroys  the  hope  for  mankind  wrapped 
up  in  it.  The  seriousness  of  the  subject  lifts 
us  above  the  ridicule  of  infidelity.  We  simply 
seek  the  truth;  what  is  the  source  of  man's 
sinfulness — a  truth  of  vast  importance  to  us. 

The  Catechism  declares  that  the  disobedience 
of  Adam  is  the  source  of  man's  sinfulness. 

Let  us  try  to  understand  the  fall  of  Adam  into 
sin,  the  results  in  the  race;  and  the  hopes  of 
mankind  involved  in  it;  for  we  must  remember 
that  it  is  not  a  single  incident,  isolated  by  itself 
as  told  in  the  Bible,  that  it  runs  through  the 
whole  Scripture,  and  is  linked  with  the  salvation 
wrought  by  Christ.  We  find  it  so  in  the  text  of 
this  morning,  let  us  recall  it.  "For  as  by  one 
man's  disobedience  many  were  made  sinners  so 
by  the  obedience  of  one  shall  many  be  made 
righteous." 

Three  things  are  clearly  seen  in  the  Bible 
teaching.  The  first  is  that  God  created  Adam 
as  the  head  of  the  race  of  mankind.  How  he 
created  him  is  not  stated,  but  it  is  stated  that 
though  made  of  the  earth,  he  was  made  in  the 
likeness  of  God  and  later  texts  of  Scripture  show 
this  likeness  was  in  knowledge,  righteousness  and 
true  holiness,  that  he  had  a  spiritual  nature  capa- 
ble of  and  prone  through  likeness  of  God  to 
eternal  righteousness. 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM        47 

Some  think  God  created  man  by  a  command 
instantaneously  fulfilled;  but  there  is  no  sign  in 
all  the  universe  of  like  creation;  others  think  it 
was  by  a  long  process  of  evolution.  We  should 
always  remember  that  evolution  does  not  account 
for  origins — only  for  development  of  that  already 
existing.  There  is  all  the  place  for  it  in  the 
first  chapter  of  Genesis  that  man  by  his  research 
has  found  for  it  in  nature;  in  both  there  is  need 
of  God  as  the  origin.  Evolution  unfolds  in 
multitude  forms  the  material  universe,  but  God 
is  its  origin.  It  unfolds  in  multiple  forms  vege- 
table life — but  God  is  its  origin.  It  unfolds  in 
multiple  forms  animal  life,  but  God  is  its  origin. 
Man  may  have  come  from  the  highest  animal  by 
evolution,  but  there  is  a  life  in  him  and  distinct 
from  animal  life.  God  is  its  origin.  Evolution 
unfolds  in  multitude  forms  and  associations  this 
man  life,  but  God  is  its  origin.  The  successive 
generations  in  mankind  are  from  Adam,  the 
head  of  the  race — in  all  ages,  in  all  climes,  in 
vast  variety,  the  one  race  of  mankind. 

The  one  strong  fact  stated  in  the  Scripture  is 
that  God  created  Adam  in  his  own  likeness,  a 
spiritual  being  prone  to  righteousness.  God  is 
not  the  source  of  man's  sinfulness.  He  made 
man  upright. 

But  we  have  already  been  forced  to  the  con- 
clusion that  the  race  is  sinful.  Whence  then  is 
this  sinfulness. 

The  second  thing  clearly  seen  in  the  Bible  is 
that  Adam  was   placed   under  the  law   of   our 


48        THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

being  by  God,  that  he  was  tempted  and  that  he 
broke  the  law  by  wilful  disobedience  and  so  be- 
came sinful.  A  moral  being  is  one  free  to  act 
not  being  in  any  way  coerced  by  outward  force. 
Being  so  free  he  may  choose  either  the  right  or 
the  wrong.  Adam  could  have  chosen  to  love 
God  supremely,  he  would  have  then  obeyed  the 
command  given  him  and  have  been  confirmed  in 
the  spirit  of  obedience,  but  being  a  free  moral 
being,  he  could  choose  what  seemed  of  advantage 
to  him,  could  cease  to  love  God  supremely  and  so 
disobey  his  command. 

The  fruit  of  the  tree  of  good  and  evil  seems 
a  little  thing,  still  it  was  the  symbol  of  God's 
authority.  In  our  Civil  War,  General  Dix  at 
New  Orleans  said,  "If  any  man  hauls  down  the 
American  Flag,  shoot  him  on  the  spot."  It  was 
a  little  thing — a  flag — but  it  was  the  symbol  of 
the  nation's  authority. 

As  far  as  we  know — as  far  as  we  are  able  to 
think,  a  finite  moral  being  must  have  this  free- 
dom. It  may  be  confirmed  in  character  by  re- 
peated acts  either  of  obedience  or  of  disobedience. 
Adam  was  such  a  moral  being — yielded  into 
temptation  and  fell  into  sin. 

Our  own  temptations  are  pictured  to  us  in 
those  of  Adam.  We  fall  in  the  same  way.  We 
choose  what  seems  for  our  good  and  find  it 
evil,  because  we  transgress  God's  good  law  and 
disobey  Him. 

The  third  thing  clearly  seen  in  the  Bible  is 
that  Adam  is  regarded  and  treated  as  the  Head. 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM        49 

the  Representative  of  the  race — and  as  giving 
his  character  to  the  race.  Both  of  Representa- 
tion and  of  Heredity  we  find  a  great  deal  in  the 
experience  of  the  race.  As  representative  we 
find  those  represented  share  the  results  of  the 
actions  of  the  one  who  represents  them,  and 
generally  they  confirm  by  their  approval  his 
acts.  So  the  head  of  a  nation  to  the  world,  so 
the  ambassador  of  a  nation  to  another  nation — 
so  the  representative  of  a  district  in  the  State 
Legislature  or  the  Congress,  so  the  father  of  a 
group  of  children,  so  a  husband  of  a  wife — so  in 
the  varied  relations  of  life.  And  so  in  our  varied 
relation  to  Adam.  He  represented  us;  we  share 
in  the  results  of  his  acts,  especially  as  we  gener- 
ally approve  of  his  acts  by  our  own  like  action. 

Heredity  also  prevails  in  human  life — and  in 
many  cases  shows  us  how  the  traits  of  a  repre- 
sentative are  handed  down  in  his  descendants. 

Let  us  remember  also  that  not  only  is  the 
sinfulness  of  our  nature  traced  to  Adam's  fall — 
but  also  the  nobility  comes  from  him.  The  many 
good  traits  and  the  discontent  with  our  evil 
propensities  we  have  this  morning  been  consider- 
ing are  descended  from  him.  The  likeness  of 
God  in  Adam  has  not  been  effaced,  only  blurred. 
We  have  it  in  our  nature  from  him. 

Let  us  also  remember  that  the  law  of  repre- 
sentation and  inheritance  is  a  good  law  coming 
from  the  good  God,  its  law  giver. 

Whatever  of  injury  has  come  upon  us  has  been 
from  disobedience  to  God.   What  untold  blessings 


50        THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

have  come  from  even  its  partial  obedience  can  be 
traced  in  the  blessings  of  our  advancing  Chris- 
tian civilization. 

Let  us  also  remember  that  this  law  of  repre- 
sentation carries  in  its  bosom  the  wonderful  love 
of  God  in  the  great  salvation  wrought  for  us  by 
his  son,  our  Savior  Jesus  Christ. 

He  becomes  our  great  representative  and  we 
can  by  faith  receive  his  great  salvation  and  grow 
like  him. 

There  was  a  great  nobility  in  Adam  created  in 
the  likeness  of  God  and  representing  the  race  but 
he  fell  by  yielding  to  temptation  and  ceasing  to 
love  God  supremely. 

There  is  infinite  nobility  and  dignity  in  Jesus 
Christ,  the  son  of  God  and  representing  the 
race — He  resisted  all  temptation — He  loved  God 
supremely — He  loved  man  so  He  died  for  him; 
and  He  freely  calls  upon  us  all  to  share  His  re- 
demption and  fullness  of  life. 

Now  behold  the  greatness  of  His  redemptive 
law  and  redeeming  love.  If  a  single  one  of  us 
is  finally  lost,  is  swept  away  from  God  into 
wickedness  and  death  it  will  not  be  because  we 
are  in  Adam  but  because  we  refuse  to  be  in 
Christ. 

Christ  has  followed  us  in  His  yearning  love; 
He  calls  us  to  himself  in  full  and  free  salvation 
from  all  sin.  Let  us  yield  ourselves  to  His 
attraction  and  come  back  into  the  orbit  of  light 
and  life,  the  supreme  love  of  God. 


IV. 


FOURTH  LORD'S  DAY  OF  THE 
HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 


"DESERT  OF  SIN" 

Fo7'  the  ivrath  of  God  is  revealed  from 
heaven  against  all  ungodliness  and  unright- 
eousness of  men  who  hinder  the  truth  in 
unrighteousness. — RoM.  1 :18. 

OUR  Catechism  now  holds  before  our  seri- 
ous attention  the  justice  of  God  in  the 
punishment  of  sin.  We  have  looked  upon 
ourselves  as  breaking  the  law  of  our  being  and 
as  members  of  a  sinful  race.  Now  we  ask  our 
hushed  and  trembling  hearts,  How  does  God 
look  upon  us?  Is  there  such  a  thing  as  wrath 
in  God?  Surely  not  the  causeless  flying  into 
anger  we  so  often  find  in  ourselves.  But  we 
sometimes  have  righteous  indignation  against 
wrong  doing;  we  expect  that  and  admire  it  often 
in  a  Judge  in  Court  as  he  sentences  a  hardened 
criminal.  Is  there  such  a  thing  in  God,  and  is  it 
ever  aroused  against  man,  against  us!  Is  there 
a  constant  and  steadfast  opposition  to  sin  in 
the  very  nature  of  God.  And  is  it  aroused 
against  us?  Is  there  such  a  thing  as  justice  in 
God?  Does  he  ever  punish  sin  in  this  life.  Does 
sin  now  under  the  government  of  a  just  God  ever 
bring  suffering  upon  us  sinners.    Will  sin  under 

51 


52        THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

the  government  of  a  just  God  have  anything  to 
do  with  the  final  destiny  of  us  sinners. 

These  are  questions  that  must  arise  in  thought- 
ful minds.  If  the  justice  of  God  punishes  sin  in 
time  and  in  eternity  it  is  far  from  wise  for  us  to 
blind  our  eyes  to  it.  On  the  contrary  it  is  the 
part  of  manliness  to  find  the  truth,  and  to  look 
at  it  clearly  now  while  we  may  do  it  calmly  and 
thoroughly,  while  we  have  health  of  body  and 
vigor  of  mind  and  time  given  us  to  take  the 
action  prudence  may  demand. 

That  we  may  consider  this  all  important  sub- 
ject solely  in  its  bearing  upon  ourselves,  we 
should  now  exercise  a  proper  sympathy  for  our 
fellow-men;  think  of  others  for  a  while  that  we 
at  length  may  think  only  of  ourselves.  That  a 
multitude  of  our  fellows  should  be  in  danger  of 
present  and  endless  woe  must  fill  every  sensitive 
mind  with  deep  sorrow.  This  serious  distress  of 
our  minds  is  not  sinful  but  good,  it  allies  us  with 
our  Savior  who  wept  over  Jerusalem.  We  think 
of  three  great  classes  of  our  fellow-men.  Those 
dying  in  infancy.  They  have  a  sinful  nature. 
Are  they  lost?  No.  No.  They  are  saved  in 
Christ.  The  whole  tenor  of  the  Scriptures 
emphasizes  Christ's  words,  "Suffer  the  little 
children  to  come  unto  me,  of  such  is  the  king- 
dom of  heaven."  Not  the  will  of  your  Father  in 
heaven  that  one  of  these  little  ones  should  perish. 
They  are  lost  in  Adam.  True!  But  they  are 
saved  in  Christ. 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM        53 

The  heathen  who  have  never  heard  of  a  Savior. 
Punishment  by  a  just  God  will  be  graded  accord- 
ing to  knowledge  of  the  law.  Those  who  know 
not  this  law  and  still  demand  stripes,  Christ 
said,  "would  be  beaten  with  few  stripes."  The 
Apostle  Paul  says  they  will  be  judged  according 
to  their  deeds  under  the  law  they  knew.  Our 
sympathy  for  the  heathen  should  lead  us  to  send 
the  Gospel  of  Christ  to  them. 

The  third  great  class  embraces  these  who  in 
our  own  Christian  land  have  been  shut  out  by 
vicious  surroundings  from  all  Christian  influ- 
ences. There  are  hells  we  know,  here  in  our 
land,  dens  of  iniquity,  vice  and  misery,  from 
whence  those  who  once  enter  seldom  return. 
You  would  not  see  one  dear  to  you  enter  to 
abide  there.  Our  sympathy  for  those  in  such 
hells  should  lead  us  to  every  effort  to  rescue 
them  and  to  close  such  hells.  This  was  in 
Christ's  mission  and  should  be  in  ours.  Of  all 
these  classes  we  may  be  sure  whatever  the  Great 
Father,  whatever  the  blessed  Savior  can  do  to 
save  men  from  endless  woe  will  be  done  for 
them  as  is  being  done  for  us.  We  may  therefore 
leave  them  in  God's  hands. 

Now  let  us  be  sure  our  sympathy  for  others 
has  only  this  wholesome  influence  upon  us — to 
lead  us  to  help  them.  Let  us  guard  against  its 
withdrawing  our  attention  in  the  smallest  degree 
from  our  own  condition  in  the  sight  of  the  justice 
of  God.  It  is  so  natural  for  us  to  judge  others 
and  excuse  ourselves,  to  hide  ourselves  behind 


54        THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

others,  that  there  is  special  need  for  us  now  to 
think  only  of  ourselves  as  standing  before  the 
bar  of  the  Just  God.  Let  us  however  much  pain 
and  anxiety  it  may  cause  find  out  how  we  stand 
in  reference  to  the  punishment  of  sin.  If  we 
are  in  danger  of  it  we  ought  to  know  it. 

A  very  fair  and  difficult  question  now  arises. 
In  what  sense  and  to  what  degree  are  we  account- 
able for  a  sinful  nature  which  we  have  without 
any  choice  of  our  own ;  for  we  are  prone  to 
disobey  the  law  of  love.  This  is  the  original  sin 
spoken  of  in  the  Catechism.  We  are  personally 
not  guilty  of  Adam's  sin ;  but  we  have  his  nature 
inherited  from  our  representative,  our  head.  How 
are  we  responsible  for  such  sinful  nature?  Let 
us  consider  a  case  we  frequently  meet,  upon 
which  the  moral  judgment  of  mankind  is  very 
clear  and  which  though  special  throws  such  light 
upon  our  general  condition. 

A  man  inherits  from  a  long  line  of  ancestry 
a  fiery  temper.  He  is  easily  thrown  into  a  hot 
rage  in  which  he  speaks  and  acts  disgracefully. 

What  does  his  own  and  the  moral  sense  of 
mankind  say  of  him.     Three  things — 

FIRST:  No  mode  of  reasoning  can  lead  him 
or  his  fellows  to  pronounce  that  that  fiery  nature 
is  right  and  should  be  approved.  It  must  be 
condemned. 

SECOND:  HE  should  restrain  and  as  far  as 
persistent  and  steady  effort  may  go  he  should  so 
control  it  that  he  is  the  complete  master  of  it.  He 
should  embrace  all  agencies  to  secure  this  control. 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM        55 

THIRD :  If  he  pursues  the  reverse  course,  and 
his  fiery  temper  issues  in  some  outrageous  act, 
his  moral  sense  and  that  of  mankind  hold  him 
responsible  both  for  the  temper  and  the  act. 

Do  not  all  these  things  hold  true  of  us  all  in 
our  general  condition,  a  nature  prone  to  disobey 
the  law  of  God,  the  law  of  our  being. 

No  mode  of  reasoning  can  approve  of  our  sin- 
ful nature.  We  should  embrace  all  agencies  at 
hand  to  restrain  our  sinfulness.  Failing  in  this 
when  we  commit  acts  of  sin  does  not  our  con- 
science condemn  us  both  for  the  nature  and 
the  act. 

Surely  we  cannot  even  desire  that  God  would 
lower  his  law  to  our  condition,  would  require  us 
to  love  Him  only  after  we  had  loved  ourselves 
supremely,  with  the  poor  little  remnant  of  our 
power  to  love.  That  would  give  up  forever  the 
noble  purpose  for  which  He  made  us.  Besides, 
as  long  as  God  is  good,  worthy  of  highest  love — 
and  as  long  as  man  is  his  creature  having  power 
to  love,  as  long  as  God  is  God  and  man  is  man 
created  in  His  image,  so  long  the  only  right  thing 
conceivable  is  for  man  to  love  God. 

The  law  is  the  transcript  of  the  Divine  Nature, 
it  defines  man's  nature  and  is  calculated  to  pro- 
mote his  highest  welfare,  to  change  it  to  meet 
man's  sinfulness  would  be  unjust  both  to  God 
and  man. 

Our  Catechism  is  evidently  right  in  saying 
that  God  does  no  injustice  to  man  in  requiring 
him  to  keep  the  law,  since  he  has  lost  his  power 


56        THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

of  keeping  it  by  his  own  act.  The  most  unjust 
thing  to  man  would  be  to  encourage  him  in 
his  sin. 

The  race  of  men  universally  and  constantly 
breaks  the  law  of  our  being,  you  and  I  con- 
stantly break  this  law.  Still  it  remains  true 
that  God  is  infinitely  worthy  of  our  love  and  the 
obligation  rests  upon  us  to  love  Him  with  all 
our  heart. 

Our  sinfulness  is  our  unjustifiable  refusal  to 
do  what  we  ought  to  do.  We  are  not  coerced  to 
sin.  No  force  outside  us  controls  us.  Alas  all 
is  within  us!  it  is  our  nature.  It  approves  and 
indulges  itself. 

We  now  face  the  justice  of  God  in  the  punish- 
ment of  sin. 

If  a  man  approves  and  indulges  this  sinful 
nature  and  neglects  or  rejects  the  means  provided 
by  God  to  restrain  and  overcome  it,  will  God 
punish  him  in  this  life?  If  a  man  leaves  this 
world  in  such  antagonism  with  God  and  reject- 
ing His  Grace,  will  God  punish  him  in  the  world 
to  come?  And  will  the  punishment  continue  as 
long  as  the  sin  continues?  Let  us  each  one  make 
the  question  personal.    Will  God  punish  me? 

We  may  think  of  punishment  as  suffering 
brought  upon  one  for  disobedience  to  law  inflicted 
by  one  who  has  the  right  to  enforce  the  law. 
The  law  has  a  penalty  which  is  inflicted  upon 
the  violator  of  law  by  the  Judge  appointed  by 
the  law.  Justice  is  aimed  at  it  in  every  case  but 
it  may  be  very  difficult  in  human  laws  to  secure 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM        57 

it  and  often  the  penalty  is  absurdly  different 
from  the  offence.  Still  man  in  society  tries  self- 
government,  and  recognizes  that  the  penalty  is 
an  essential  in  law;  that  society  to  be  at  all 
secure  must  frown  upon  those  who  violate  the 
laws  of  its  well  being. 

Is  there  such  a  thing  as  penalty  for  the  viola- 
tion of  God's  law,  have  we  incurred  it?  Will  He 
inflict  it?  If  so,  we  may  be  sure  He  is  not 
limited  as  we  are,  the  penalty  will  be  something 
suitable  to  the  offence  and  the  infliction  of  it 
will  be  sure. 

We  should  now  look  fearlessly  upon  the  fact 
that  God  punishes  disobedience  to  law.  In  the 
first  place  nature  shows  it  very  plainly.  We  are 
living  our  earthly  life  under  the  reign  of  law, 
every  instant  of  our  life,  and  every  part  of  one's 
life  is  under  law.  Now,  these  laws  of  nature 
have  penalties  and  these  are  self -inflicting.  We 
are  under  physical  law,  the  law  of  gravitation, 
for  instance,  holds  us  lovingly  to  the  bosom  of 
the  earth  for  our  well-being.  But  if  one  breaks 
this  law,  if  he  falls  from  the  top  of  a  skyscraper 
to  the  street,  he  is  broken  to  pieces.  Sternly, 
relentlessly  but  never  malignantly  nature  visits 
disobedience  with  punishment.  We  are  under 
laws  of  health,  proper  food  taken  in  proper  ways 
ministers  to  our  strength;  but  poison  in  large 
enough  quantities,  just  as  surely  kills.  Sternly, 
relentlessly,  but  never  malignantly  nature  visits 
disobedience  with  punishment. 


58        THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

We  are  under  mental  laws.  To  pay  careful 
attention  to  our  daily  work  gives  strength  of 
mind  for  that  work,  gives  knowledge  and  suc- 
cess; to  be  careless  and  thoughtless  brings  igno- 
rance, inefficiency  and  failure.  Sternly,  relent- 
lessly, but  never  malignantly,  nature  visits  pun- 
ishment upon  disobedience. 

So  we  are  under  moral  laws.  To  give  our 
hearty  allegiance  to  the  truth,  to  be  true  to  our 
word,  to  our  promise,  makes  strong  character 
and  secures  the  confidence  of  our  fellows.  To 
be  false,  to  speak  falsehood,  to  break  promises 
makes  weak  character  and  forfeits  the  confidence 
of  our  fellows.  Sternly,  relentlessly  but  never 
malignantly  nature  visits  disobedience  with  pun- 
ishment. 

So  we  are  under  social  laws.  If  one  thinks 
of  others,  considers  their  interests,  promotes 
their  happiness,  acknowledges  their  rights,  he 
develops  a  social  nature,  has  the  happiness  of 
pleasant  associations  and  the  satisfaction  of 
ministering  to  their  welfare.  But  if  he  holds 
himself  aloof  from  his  fellows — or  selfishly  preys 
upon  them,  if  he  seeks  only  selfish  aims,  he 
becomes  hard  and  cold  hearted  and  his  fellows 
turn  upon  him  the  cold  shoulder.  The  one  has 
positive  happiness  in  the  family,  making  it  a 
happy  family,  and  so  in  all  the  relations  of  life. 
The  other  has  only  misery  and  makes  misery. 
Here  also  sternly,  relentlessly  but  never  malig- 
nantly nature  visits  disobedience  with  punish- 
ment.   These  are  a  few  of  nature's  many  voices 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM        59 

and  they  all  tell  us  that  God's  laws  have  rewards 
for  obedience  and  punishment  for  disobedience. 

Thus  nature  confirms  what  our  reason  has 
already  made  clear.  The  distinction  between 
right  and  wrong  is  unchangeable.  Our  conscience 
cannot  approve  this  wrong;  cannot  approve  our 
own  sinful  nature  and  acts;  our  violation  of  the 
law  of  our  being.  God,  the  perfect  Being,  must 
from  His  very  nature  now  and  to  ail  eternity 
approve  the  right  and  oppose  the  wrong.  He 
will  reward  obedience  to  His  good  law.  The  law 
involving  all  others,  the  law  of  our  being;  just 
as  truly  He  will  punish  disobedience  to  this  law, 
and  the  punishment  will  exactly  suit  the  offence. 

Now  when  we  look  at  the  Scripture  the  truth 
is  made  still  more  plain. 

There  is  such  a  thing  as  not  entering,  not 
even  seeing  the  Kingdom  of  God.  There  is  such 
a  thing  as  losing  one's  soul.  The  Gospel  tells 
us.  "He  that  believeth  not  the  son  shall  not  see 
life,  but  the  wrath  of  God  abideth  on  him."  The 
Apostle  Paul  writes  our  text.  "The  righteous  in- 
dignation of  God  is  revealed  from  Heaven  against 
all  ungodliness  and  unrighteousness  of  men." 

Is  there  punishment  beyond  death?  We  know 
sinfulness  tends  to  fixedness,  to  confirm  itself; 
we  know  that  sinfulness  tends  to  separate  itself 
from  the  good  and  ally  itself  with  the  evil.  There 
is  a  terrible  possibility  of  turning  away  deliber- 
ately from  repentance  and  trust  in  Christ  for 
new  life  and  going  out  of  this  stage  of  existence 
into  the  next  with  fixedness  of  sinful  character. 


60       THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

to  separate  from  all  good  and  to  endless  sin — 
and  to  endless  punishment. 

We  are  not  to  think  of  everlasting  punishment 
as  inflicted  for  a  single — or  for  a  few  sinful  acts, 
or  for  all  such  committed  in  this  life.  Rather  it 
is  inflicted  upon  our  sinful  nature  as  confirmed 
by  long  indulgence  and  sinful  acts  here  and  now, 
and  issuing  in  continued  acts  of  sin  in  the  changed 
circumstances  of  another  life.  As  long  as  the 
sin  lasts,  it  deserves  punishment.  If  one  is 
everlasting,  the  other  is  also.  Everlasting  sin 
and  everlasting  punishment.  Everlasting  sin 
enduring  everlasting  punishment,  restrained  by 
such  punishment  from  further  growth  and  held 
by  such  punishment  as  deserving  condemnation 
in  the  judgment  of  all  who  may  know  of  it. 

Neither  are  we  to  consider  the  nature  and 
severity  of  such  punishment  in  the  future  life  as 
depicted  to  us  by  the  morbid  imagination  of  some 
of  our  fellow-men,  men  of  great  genius,  great 
poets  though  they  may  be. 

We  are  to  remember  that  both  heaven  and  hell 
cannot  be  clearly  described  to  us.  Our  language 
is  based  solely  upon  our  experiences.  Gold  and 
jewels  are  admired  by  us  here  in  this  life.  But 
we  are  not  to  think  of  the  heavenly  city  as  hav- 
ing walls  and  streets  of  literal  jewels  and  gold. 
Only  the  circumstances  of  the  blessed  life  will 
be  wonderfully  rich  and  attractive.  So  we  are 
not  to  think  of  the  literal  undying  worm  and 
unquenched  fire  of  hell — though  Dante  and  Mil- 
ton have  let  their  imaginations   dwell  on  such 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM        61 

horrors.  We  will  do  well  to  remember  that  our 
Savior  in  his  love  and  faithfulness  to  us  took 
experiences  we  loathe  here  to  warn  us  that  the 
everlasting  punishment  of  sin  was  terrible  in  its 
nature — not  the  literal  fire  and  worm — but  the 
outward  circumstances,  the  penalty,  will  be  in 
keeping  with  sinfulness  confirmed,  unrepented  of 
and  active  still  against  God  and  one's  fellows. 

Surely  the  only  lesson  our  clear-eyed  reason 
can  see  is  that  we  should  restrain  our  sinfulness 
now  and  should  seek  new  life  from  God  our 
Savior  instantly  and  earnestly. 

Surely  he  who  rejects  such  restraint — who  in- 
dulges his  sinfulness  can  expect  from  the  justice 
of  God  only  suitable  suffering  both  in  this  life 
and  in  the  life  to  come. 


V. 


FIFTH  LORD'S  DAY  OF  THE 
HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 


"HELPLESSNESS  OF  THE  SINNER" 

This  is  the  message  which  we  have 
heard  from  Him  and  announce  unto  you 
that  God  is  light  and  in  Him  is  no  dark- 
ness at  all. — I  John  1 :5. 

WHEN  one  is  in  great  bodily  danger  the 
instinct  of  self  preservation  seeks  at 
once  to  escape.  He  is  a  good  and  wise 
friend  who  warns  him  against  false  ways — ways 
that  perhaps  involve  him  in  greater  danger,  and 
shows  him  the  true  way  to  reach  safety. 

Our  Catechism  in  the  last  question  of  the  4th 
Lord's  Day  and  in  this  Lord's  Day  seeks  to  act 
the  part  of  such  a  good  friend.  We  have  been 
awakened  to  a  sense  of  our  sinfulness  and  its 
punishment.  We  are  in  danger — and  we  seek  to 
escape. 

Our  first  instinctive  impulse  is  to  cast  our- 
selves upon  the  mercy  of  God. 

Now  the  Catechism  startles  us  by  saying — 
There  is  mercy  with  God — but  his  mercy  is  al- 
ways in  full  harmony  with  the  justice  that 
requires  the  punishment  of  sin.  Our  reason  at 
once  confirms  this  view.  Mercy  can  never  set 
law  aside,  the  law  of  God's  nature  and  of  our 

62 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM        63 

own  being.  To  be  real  mercy  it  must  re-establish 
the  law.  We  try  to  apply  this  in  our  state  laws, 
and  extend  mercy  to  the  condemned  only  where 
there  seems  to  be  good  hope  of  renewed  obedience 
to  law.  Nature  also  teaches  this  to  the  attentive 
mind.  We  are  under  physical,  mental  and  moral 
laws,  and  nature  sternly  inflicts  punishment  for 
the  violation  of  these  laws.  Just  as  truly  while 
life  lasts,  in  the  lasting  of  life  itself  and  in  the 
restorative  agencies  nature  sets  at  work  there  is 
mercy.  A  man  has  broken  the  laws  of  health. 
He  falls  short  of  the  buoyancy  of  health;  he 
suffers  sickness.  But  there  are  restorative  agen- 
cies in  nature  ready  for  his  immediate  and  wise 
application.  So  in  mental  laws.  He  has  been 
thoughtless  and  indifferent  and  suffers  the  con- 
sequence in  ignorance  and  mental  weakness;  but 
still  there  are  stimulating  and  helpful  agencies 
all  about  him  to  arouse  him. 

So  with  moral  laws — coming  close  to  our  pres- 
ent thought.  There  are  two  opposite  principles 
— the  love  of  God  and  the  love  of  self.  We  break 
the  law  of  our  being  and  love  self  instead  of 
God.  Where  love  of  God  and  our  fellow-men 
would  bring  joy  and  gladness,  love  of  self  brings 
grasping  and  misery.  Take  it  for  instance,  in 
the  family.  The  selfish  man  becomes  exacting, 
faultfinding,  scolding,  cold  and  hard ;  but  he  lives 
on  and  his  family  lives  on  and  other  families 
live  on  in  their  varied  experiences.  He  may  at 
length  feel  all  these  many  influences  of  God's 
mercy  around  him  and  respond  to  them.    Spared 


64        THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

life  and  the  restorative  agencies  of  nature  are 
the  mercy  of  God  in  this  life.  Oh,  how  great, 
how  varied,  how  strong.  They  are  restorative, 
do  you  see.  They  do  not  set  aside  law;  they 
are  in  harmony  with  justice.  Supposing  one 
rejects  them;  fails  to  apply  them.  What  then! 
He  remains  sick,  he  remains  ignorant,  he  remains 
selfish.  Also  he  becomes  confirmed  in  all  these 
— and  then  he  dies. 

It  is  the  height  of  improbability  that  all  this 
will  be  reversed  in  the  world  to  come.  Nature 
shows  both  justice  and  mercy  in  this  life;  visits 
punishment  upon  disobedience;  starts  many  re- 
storative forces  to  the  end  of  life,  and  nature 
intimates  that  the  life  beyond  will  not  be  differ- 
ent either  in  justice  or  mercy.  God  does  not 
change  when  we  die — nor  do  we.  Only  the 
terrible  truth  faces  us.  Our  disobedience  becomes 
confirmed  in  our  character.  So  does  our  rejec- 
tion of  mercy  to  the  end  of  this  life.  Death 
does  not  change  us;  only  takes  us  away  as  he 
finds  us. 

When  we  turn  now  from  our  reason  and  ob- 
servation of  nature  to  the  Scriptures,  we  find 
from  the  time  of  Moses  through  all  the  sacred 
record  the  mercy  of  God  is  set  forth  as  in  full 
harmony  with  His  justice.  He  is  indeed  merci- 
ful and  gracious  but  He  will  in  no  wise  clear  the 
guilty.  As  in  nature,  God  never  interposes  a 
barrier  between  sin  and  evil,  between  cause  and 
effect,  and  shows  mercy  only  to  bring  back  to 
full  obedience.     So  in  the  Scripture  His  mercy 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM        65 

never  exempts  from  responsibility,  never  en- 
courages man  to  imagine  he  can  escape  the 
evil  consequences  of  his  sin.  God's  mercy  does 
not  seek  to  make  men  comfortable  in  sin,  but 
morally  sound  and  strong  in  coming  out  of  sin. 
It  is  in  full  harmony  with  His  justice. 

There  are  great  generalizations  in  the  Scrip- 
tures— concise,  all-embracing  descriptions  of 
God's  nature.  One  text  says  "God  is  light" ;  but 
light  is  the  very  opposite  of  darkness.  They 
are  not  in  harmony — do  not  and  cannot  exist 
together.  So  God  is  love.  But  love  always  seeks 
the  welfare  of  its  object.  It  would  not  be  love 
but  hatred  to  encourage  the  sinner  in  his  sin; 
to  make  light  of  disobedience  to  the  law  of  our 
being.  The  only  true  love  must  run  in  full 
harmony  with  justice.  The  indulgent  love  of 
parents  often  encourages  children  in  evil  ways, 
to  their  great  injury.  It  is  unwise,  not  wise, 
love;  cannot  be  called  true  love.  There  can  be 
nothing  like  this  in  the  true  love  of  God  for 
man.  His  love  always  seeks  man's  restoration 
to  obedience.  Here  also  man  may  so  confirm 
himself  in  sin  that  he  resists  the  love  of  God 
seeking  to  win  him  from  his  sin.  So  man  may 
go  out  of  this  life  into  the  world  to  come  still 
resisting  God's  love. 

When  we  are  thus  forced  to  think  of  endless 
sin  and  endless  punishment  of  sin,  we  are  apt 
to  regard  it  as  a  blot  on  God's  fair  creation. 
This  is  a  great  mystery,  no  doubt,  and  far  be- 
yond our  solving;  but  it  is  only  the  continuation 


66        THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

of  the  mystery  of  the  presence  of  sin  now  in  the 
universe  of  God.  We  have  a  glimpse  of  its 
solution.  Man  is  a  moral  being,  free  to  choose 
the  right  or  the  wrong.  This  is  his  nature.  God 
will  not  coerce  him  at  all.  He  will  do  all  He  can 
to  influence  him,  but  to  force  him  in  his  choice 
is  not  conceivable.  It  would  not  be  man's  choice 
at  all.  So  it  is  possible  that  man  may  so  confirm 
himself  in  sin  that  he  will  harden  himself  against 
all  influence  God  brings  to  him — against  all 
justice — against  all  mercy  and  love. 

We  are  forced  then  to  ask  what  is  the  use  of 
punishment  if  it  does  not  reform  the  sinner? 
We  can  see,  perhaps,  three  uses — First,  it  may 
and  does  check  the  sinner's  growth  in  sin. 
Reason  tells  us  man  may  develop  his  powers 
greatly;  but  it  is  only  by  obedience  to  the  laws 
of  his  being.  Nature  tells  us  the  same  story, 
physical,  intellectual,  moral  development  follow 
the  right  use  of  our  powers  according  to  the 
law  of  our  being.  The  reverse  is  just  as  true. 
And  often  witnessed  in  sad  cases.  A  man  of 
fine  physical  and  moral  powers,  a  born  leader 
of  men,  throws  himself  into  courses  of  sin  and 
becomes  so  weak  in  all  his  powers  that  he  has 
to  be  cared  for  by  his  friends.  Often  the  process 
is  long  and  one  of  great  distress.  And  it  cer- 
tainly gives  an  intimation  that  in  the  world  to 
come  the  lengthened  and  distressful  process  may 
end  in  annihilation;  a  terrible  suggestion  that 
throws  little  light  but  only  luridness  upon  the 
subject. 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM        67 

The  second  use  of  punishment  is  that  it  checks 
the  contaminating  powers  of  sin.  Many  are  de- 
terred from  courses  of  sin  by  the  fearful  fate  of 
those  who  pursue  them.  Future  punishment  is 
foreseen,  and  becomes  at  length  real,  checks  in 
thoughtful  beings  the  seductive  powers  of  sin. 

The  third  use  of  punishment  is  to  manifest 
this  inherent  evil  in  disobedience  of  law  to  all 
beings  in  the  wide  universe  of  God  who  may 
witness  it.  Our  little  earth  is  a  small  ball  re- 
volving about  a  small  sun — and  it  teems  with 
life  and  carries  our  race  of  moral  beings  upon 
its  bosom.  There  are  myriad  such  suns  and 
larger  ones — there  may  be  myriad  such  earths — 
there  may  be  myriad  races  of  moral  beings.  Our 
sad  experience  may  manifest  God's  displeasure 
against  sin,  the  inherent  evil  in  sin,  and  thus 
be  a  terrible  and  needed  warning  to  untold  races 
of  moral  beings. 

These  reasons  throw  little  light,  only  lurid- 
ness,  upon  the  subject.  I  have  mentioned  them 
since  they  enter  so  widely  into  recent  discussions. 

We  should  keep  in  mind  the  great  personal 
interest  we  have  in  the  subject.  Not  be  dis- 
tracted by  questions  of  general  interest  from 
those  of  intense,  personal  interest.  Justice  may 
ask,  and  does  ask,  "What  will  be  the  effect  of 
punishment  upon  the  sinner  and  upon  others?" 
And  we  may  properly  consider  it.  After  all, 
the  question  for  each  one  of  us  of  supreme 
importance  to  each  one,  is,  what  has  justice 
against  me?  what  do  I  deserve  for  the  violation 


68        THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

of  the  law  of  my  being?  We  find  terrible  de- 
scriptions in  the  Scriptures  of  the  damnation 
and  severity  of  the  punishment  of  sin.  The 
remarkable  thing  is  that  some  of  the  most  severe 
teachings  of  the  Scripture  come  from  the  lips  of 
Jesus  Christ,  the  friend  of  sinners,  the  Savior. 
They  are  the  warnings  of  divine  and  infinite  love 
— the  love  that  seeks  to  save  from  sin.  His  mis- 
sion to  the  earth  is  a  convincing  proof  of  the 
hideous  nature  of  sin  and  of  its  awful  conse- 
quences. The  cross  glowing  with  the  saving  love 
is  raised  against  the  dark  background  of  human 
sin  and  misery. 

The  punishment  of  sin  is  therefore  not  a  ques- 
tion of  expediency,  the  good  it  may  do;  not  a 
question  of  choice,  of  the  will  of  God,  as  an 
arbitrary  Ruler  who  might  have  willed  the  re- 
verse. It  is  an  outcome  of  the  divine  nature  as 
opposed  to  sin.  The  enormity  of  man's  sin  de- 
serves God's  frown.  The  infinitely  good  God 
cannot  look  upon  it  with  the  least  degree  of 
allowance — in  time  or  in  eternity. 

The  difficulty  we  have  in  recognizing  the  hid- 
eous nature  of  our  sin  arises  from  two  sources. 
They  are  both  easily  recognized.  The  first  is, 
that  we  are  the  beings  involved,  and  it  is  natural 
for  us  to  think  the  best  of  ourselves.  But  in 
our  own  Courts  of  Justice,  we  take  but  little 
account  of  what  the  culprit  thinks  of  his  offence 
and  its  desert.  The  second  is,  that  we  judge 
ourselves  by  human  standards  and  compare  our- 
selves with  each  other.     There  is  such  a  thing 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM        69 

as  original  sin,  not  that  we  are  at  all  guilty  of 
Adam's  sin,  but  we  have  inherited  from  the  head 
of  the  race,  a  sinful  nature.  Just  as  truly  there 
is  original  goodness.  We  have  inherited  from 
the  head  of  the  race  fragments  of  his  original 
nature,  in  the  likeness  of  God.  Men  are  neither 
wholly  good  nor  wholly  bad.  Temperament,  race, 
education,  the  accidents  of  life  modify  both  and 
lead  to  social  standards  and  a  vast  variety  of 
character.  Soon  there  come  comparisons.  Each 
may  say,  I  am  not  so  bad  by  such  a  standard, 
not  as  bad  as  someone  else.  There  is  none  so 
bad  but  there  is  some  good  in  him ;  the  image  of 
God  is  not  entirely  destroyed.  So  there  is  none 
so  good  but  there  is  some  bad  in  him,  which  may 
flame  out  to  the  astonishment  of  all. 

But  it  behooves  us  to  frankly  and  fully  judge 
ourselves  not  by  human  standards,  but  by  the 
divine — not  by  social  laws,  but  by  the  divine  law 
of  our  being.  Not  by  comparison  with  other 
sinners,  but  by  comparison  with  what  we  ought 
to  be  in  God's  sight.  When  we  thus  look  upon 
ourselves,  our  virtues,  as  we  may  be  pleased  to 
call  them,  are  deformed  and  darkened,  and  we 
draw  back  instinctively  from  vices  of  which  we 
recognize  we  are  capable. 

We  are  sinful  both  by  nature  and  by  practice, 
and  we  see  that  God  in  His  nature  cannot  do 
less  or  otherwise  than  condemn  us.  Whatever 
good  remains  in  us  from  the  great  head  of  the 
race  created  in  the  likeness  of  God,  whatever 
good  we  find  in  our  present  experience  and  in 


70        THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

our  aspirations  and  ideals,  should  be  held  by  us 
open  to  the  appeals  and  influences  of  the  mercy 
of  God,  open  to  the  warnings  and  the  pleadings 
of  the  Savior  of  sinners.  The  Scriptures  ever 
hold  before  us  the  enormity  of  sin,  its  distrust  of 
God,  its  disobedience  of  God,  its  dislike  of  God. 
its  selfishness  against  our  fellow-men — ever  hold 
before  us  its  hideous  nature,  and  the  awful  pun- 
ishment it  deserves  in  time  and  eternity,  and  so 
urge  upon  our  acceptance  the  Savior  of  sinners. 

Now  we  ask  again  the  question  with  which  we 
began  our  morning's  meditation.  How  shall  we 
escape  this  punishment  in  time  and  in  eternity? 
More,  how  shall  we  escape  that  which  deserves 
punishment,  present  sin  and  its  hideous  off- 
spring— endless  sin? 

The  Catechism  gives  a  curt  reply  to  the  sug- 
gestion :  that  we  may  make  satisfaction  our- 
selves. It  says,  "By  no  means,  but  on  the 
contrary  we  daily  increase  our  debt."  Still  men 
in  all  ages  have  tried  to  save  themselves,  and 
it  is  certainly  wisdom  for  us  to  have  clear  views 
of  the  futility  of  such  efforts,  lest  we  think  we 
may  be  successful  in  making  them.  Of  course  we 
see  the  fatuity  of  thinking  of  bearing  our  punish- 
ment fully  until  it  is  exhausted  and  we  go  free. 
We  do  not  know  what  a  particular  act  of  sin, 
one  single  act  deserves.  Besides,  we  keep  our 
sinful  nature  and  continue  particular  acts  in- 
definitely. 

The  curt  answer  of  the  Catechism  is  clearly 
the    truth.      But    men    in    all    ages    have    tried 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM        71 

penance.  They  have  withdrawn  from  the  world 
in  deserts  and  cells — have  starved  themselves — 
have  inflicted  stripes  and  tortures  upon  them- 
selves. But  we  recognize  clearly  that  no  one  has 
the  right  to  withdraw  from  the  world.  His 
duty  is  to  help  his  fellow-men — no  one  has  the 
right  to  inflict  suffering  upon  himself,  he  is  not 
the  judge  of  what  he  deserves;  he  cannot  please 
the  loving  Father  by  self-inflicted  pains  and 
torture. 

But  men  have  always  relied  upon  repentance 
— sorrow  for  sin  and  turning  from  that  parti- 
cular sin.  This  truly  is  an  unquestionable  duty, 
in  every  soul  awakened  to  a  sense  of  sin.  But 
each  one  recognizes  its  futility  in  any  particular 
case.  It  does  not  restore  to  the  original  condi- 
tion— it  does  not  mete  out  the  exact  justice — it 
only  is  the  conscience  seeking  relief,  and  finding 
none.  The  sensualist  repents  of  the  disgrace 
and  ruin  he  has  brought  upon  a  lovely  family, 
but  it  does  not  restore  peace  and  honor  to  the 
family,  nor  give  peace  to  his  conscience.  An 
honored  banker  died  suddenly  at  his  desk  the 
other  day.  He  had  had  time  to  take  a  curl  of  hair 
from  a  secret  drawer  in  his  desk  and  he  held  it 
to  his  lips — the  curl  of  the  girl  he  had  ruined 
in  his  youth  and  who  had  killed  herself  long 
ago.  Besides  repentance  is  not  only  sorrow  and 
restitution,  it  is  turning  from  the  sin.  It  is  easy 
to  see  how  difficult  it  is  in  some  particular  cases 
— and  how  utterly  impossible  it  is  in  the  case  of 
our   sinful   nature.     This   may   seem   weak   and 


72       THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

dormant,  but  it  is  still  there  and  strong.  Let 
God  check  some  cherished  plan  or  man  try  to 
defeat  our  earnest  purpose,  and  it  flames  up  in 
hatred  of  God  and  man.  No  man  has  rid  him- 
self of  it. 

Then  men  in  all  ages  have  relied  upon  doing 
what  may  be  called  extra  good  works — but  we 
easily  see  the  futility  of  such  an  idea.  It  is  not 
a  question  of  outward  acts,  but  of  inward  nature. 
The  law  requires  such  an  inward  nature  that  it 
will  control  all  outward  acts.  There  can  be  no 
extra  good  works.  All  good  works  are  already 
embraced  in  the  law  of  our  being.  All  self- 
sacrifice  or  self-devotion  is  embraced  already  in 
the  law.  "Though  I  bestow  all  my  goods  to  feed 
the  poor,"  says  the  Apostle  Paul,  "and  though  I 
give  my  body  to  be  burned  and  have  not  love, 
it  profiteth  me  nothing."  It  is  possible  for  a 
very  bad  man  morally,  a  sensualist,  an  infidel, 
to  be  a  patriot,  even  to  die  on  the  field  of 
battle  for  his  country  in  this  just  cause,  but  even 
this  supreme  sacrifice  is  embraced  in  his  general 
duty,  and  certainly  cannot  atone  for  his  depraved 
nature  and  dreadful  sinful  acts.  In  our  day, 
as  well  as  in  the  past,  much  thought,  much  effort 
and  vast  fortunes  have  been  given  for  religious 
and  philanthropic  work.  Much  credit  is  to  be 
bestowed  upon  the  givers,  as  they  have  sincerely 
desired  to  serve  mankind,  and  much  good  has 
been  accomplished ;  but  if  the  givers  have  thought 
by  such  gifts  to  free  themselves  from  the  pun- 
ishment of  sin   in   acquiring  or   using  fortunes 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM        73 

or  of  any  other  sin — or  of  sin  itself,  if  they  have 
thought  of  thus  bribing  God,  the  Just  Judge,  to 
cleanse  them  from  punishment,  it  is  impossible  to 
think  of  greater  folly. 

One  more  hope  of  escape  may  arise  in  some 
minds.  If  we  cannot  save  ourselves,  will  not 
someone  save  us?  It  is  a  quite  natural  hope 
when  we  think  of  a  single  sin — or  a  single 
course  of  sin — and  of  the  wonderful  depth  and 
strength  of  self-sacrificing  love.  Many  a  mother 
would  give  herself  to  save  her  son  from  ruin — 
many  a  loving  wife  would  sacrifice  herself  for 
her  husband's  welfare.  There  may  be  some 
worldly  men  who  have  lurking  thoughts  that  it 
will  be  better  for  them  in  the  future  life  as  it 
undoubtedly  is  in  this  life,  because  of  the  Chris- 
tian virtues  of  good  women  in  close  relations 
with  them.  But  it  surely  cannot  be  a  serious 
hope  in  any  thoughtful  soul. 

The  Catechism  is  frank,  faithful  and  evidently 
right  in  its  answer.  It  is  a  question  of  a  sinful 
nature,  of  a  whole  sinful  life,  of  a  breaking  the 
law  of  our  being.  No  single  one  of  the  human 
race,  the  most  consecrated,  saintly  mother — the 
most  devoted  true  wife,  the  truest  best  friend, 
is  so  exempt  or  above  the  claims  of  the  law  as 
to  be  able  to  bear  the  punishment  of  or  for 
another.  And  if  he  or  she  could  be  found,  God 
would  not  inflict  on  such  an  one  the  punishment 
due  to  another. 

Let  us  face  the  conclusion  of  the  matter.  We 
deserve  punishment  of  our  sin  in  breaking  the 


74       THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

law  of  our  being.  An  awful  offence,  a  terrible 
punishment. 

We  cannot  save  ourselves.  The  various  avenues 
of  escape  we  have  thought  of,  are  all  closed 
against  us. 

We  cannot  hope  for  anyone  of  all  the  human 
race  to  save  us.  However  great  the  love,  how- 
ever great  the  virtue,  however  close  the  tie,  that 
escape  is  closed  to  us.  There  is  only  the  hope 
that  the  human  love  willing  to  save  by  great 
self-sacrifices  which  we  find  in  our  hearts  as  a 
fragment  of  God's  image  inherited  from  Adam, 
the  head  of  the  race,  may  indicate  that  such 
love  exists  in  God  in  such  purity  and  to  such 
extent  that  he  may  sacrifice  Himself  to  save  us. 

Should  there  be  such  love  in  Him,  surely  it 
would  be  light  indeed,  it  would  dispel  our  dark- 
ness. 

There  is  such  love  in  Him.  He  has  given  his 
own  well  beloved  Son  to  save  us — and  Jesus 
Christ  has  died  for  us — the  Son  of  God  and  the 
Son  of  man.  And  the  infinite  nature  of  His 
atoning  death  and  the  infinite  grace  and  power 
of  his  holy  life  are  sufficient  to  supply  all  our 
need  and  are  freely  offered  and  urged  upon  us 
in  the  Gospel. 

It  is  for  us  to  commit  ourselves  fully  and 
unreservedly  to  Him  in  faith.  "Believe  in  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  thou  shalt  be  Saved." 


VI. 


SIXTH  LORD'S  DAY  OF  THE 
HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 


"THE  DIVINE  SAVIOUR" 

For  there  is  one  God  and  one  mediator 
between  God  and.  men,  the  man  Christ 
Jesus. — I  Tim.  2:5. 

AT  the  close  of  our  last  Meditation  on  the 
5th  Lord's  Day  of  the  Catechism,  we 
saw  a  glimmer  of  light.  There  is  that  in 
human  hearts  which  leads  to  self-sacrifice  for 
others;  if  this  is  a  dulled  fragment  of  our 
nature  as  God  created  us  in  His  likeness,  then 
it  exists  in  God's  nature  in  infinite  degree  and 
in  exercising  it  with  His  infinite  wisdom  He  may 
devise  and  execute  our  deliverance  from  both  sin 
and  from  its  punishment.  It  was  but  a  glimmer 
but  in  this  Lord's  Day  of  the  Catechism  it  is 
seen  to  be  the  first  ray  of  the  rising  sun — the 
dawn  of  the  full  day  of  our  salvation. 

It  rises  upon  our  darkness.  There  is  no  hope 
in  ourselves.  We  have  broken  the  law  of  our 
being.  We  are  so  corrupt  in  our  sinfulness  that 
we  cannot  cast  it  off.  Left  to  ourselves  there 
can  only  be  everlasting  sinfulness — we  have  so 
incurred  guilt  in  our  sinfulness  that  we  deserve 
punishment — as  long  as  sin  lasts  tbis  must  last 
— left  to  ourselves  there  can  be  only  the  dreadful 
destiny  of  everlasting  sin  and  punishment  of  sin. 

75 


76        THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

Let  us  now  expel  from  our  minds  and  hearts 
forever  the  faintest  hope  of  ever  saving  ourselves, 
— and  let  us  look  to  God  to  save  us. 

God's  plan  of  saving  man.  It  is  a  great  sub- 
ject, the  outcome  of  God's  infinite  love  and  wis- 
dom. We  will  never  exhaust  it.  Never  fully 
comprehend  it.  May  it  be  the  subject  of  our 
adoring  contemplation  throughout  the  eternity 
of  blessedness  and  praise. 

But  we  can  understand  enough  of  it  now  to 
cast  ourselves  wholly  and  unreservedly  upon  God 
our  Savior.  All  the  teaching  of  the  Scripture  is 
to  lead  us  to  do  this,  and  the  more  we  grow  in 
our  understanding  of  it,  the  more  we  will  grow 
in  our  appreciation  of  God's  grace  to  us,  grow  in 
our  sense  of  obligation  and  gratitude  to  Him. 
And  so  his  law  will  be  re-established  in  us. 

This  Lord's  Day  of  the  Catechism  tries  to  set 
God's  salvation  before  us  in  concise  and  clear 
outline,  but  not  to  in  any  way  exhaust  it. 
Rather  it  leads  on  to  the  whole  remaining  part 
of  the  Catechism.  It  is  a  text  to  be  enlarged 
upon  and  made  clear  in  the  text  of  the  Catechism 
— in  the  truths  of  the  Apostles  Creed,  in  the 
Sacraments  of  our  religion,  in  the  duties  of  the 
Ten  Commandments  and  in  the  privileges  of  the 
Lord's  Prayer. 

There  is  a  striking  characteristic  of  human 
nature  with  which  we  are  so  familiar  in  daily 
experience  that  we  seldom  pause  to  think  of  its 
wonderful  influence  upon  our  welfare.  The  human 
race    exists    in    successive    generations.      Each 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM        77 

generation  starts  out  on  an  experience  entirely- 
new  to  it,  it  must  mould  its  own  life,  depend 
upon  itself  largely  for  its  welfare.  But  just 
as  truly  each  new  generation  inherits  from  the 
last  generation  its  character,  its  energy  and  its 
attainments,  and  so  largely  from  all  prior  genera- 
tions. When  we  descend  from  generals  to  in- 
dividuals this  characteristic  of  humanity  has  vast 
influences.  The  child  will  have  to  depend  largely 
upon  its  growing  powers  for  its  adult  welfare; 
just  as  truly  the  child  inherits  from  parents  the 
prominence  of  chin,  the  shape  of  nose,  the  color 
of  eye,  the  character  and  initiative ;  and  also  much 
of  the  circumstances  of  life.  There  is  such  a 
thing  as  heredity,  we  cannot  tell  how  strong, 
and  also  such  a  thing  as  inheritance  of  property, 
not  only  but  of  standing  in  society.  We  have 
already  had  a  glimpse  of  how  much  a  mother 
will  do  to  save  a  boy — how  much  a  wife  will  do 
to  help  a  husband,  individual  instances  of  self- 
sacrificing  love  awaken  often  the  greatest  ad- 
miration ;  but  no  one  has  ever  estimated,  or  ever 
can  estimate  the  amount  of  self-sacrifice  the  love 
of  parents  makes  for  children,  the  amount  of 
effort  and  thought  one  generation  makes  for  the 
coming  generation.  This  is  in  the  very  constitu- 
tion of  our  nature  as  social  beings,  and  comes 
directly  from  the  hand  of  our  creator,  is  a  part 
of  our  likeness  to  Him — the  image  in  which  He 
created  us.  We  speak  of  Adam  as  the  head  of 
the  race  of  mankind,  as  such  father  he  repre- 
sented the  race.    So  in  a  true  sense  every  father 


78        THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

represents  his  children,  their  future  depends 
largely  upon  his  character  and  acts.  So  in  a 
true  sense  every  generation  represents  the  next 
generation,  moulds  its  character  by  heredity,  and 
makes  its  welfare  largely  by  inheritance  of  attain- 
ments and  conditions.  How  much  would  the  race 
advance  were  not  this  characteristic  shadowed 
and  warped  by  sin  the  strongest  imagination  can 
but  faintly  see.  How  fearfully  sin  has  de- 
graded this  characteristic  in  many  a  family,  and 
in  many  a  nation  until  ruin  has  supplanted  wel- 
fare we  alas  know  too  well.  But  this  character- 
istic remains  and  affords  our  only  hope  for  the 
welfare  of  the  race. 

As  we  look  more  closely  into  the  varied  rela- 
tions of  human  society  this  characteristic  of 
representation  becomes  very  prominent.  It  can 
be  traced  in  wide  influence  in  all  stages  of  ad- 
vance from  savagery  through  barbarism  to 
civilization.  It  is  very  prominent  in  our  own 
freedom-loving  country. 

Our  district  elects  a  representative  to  the  State 
Legislature  or  the  National  Congress.  Our  state 
elects  a  Governor.  Our  nation  elects  a  President. 
The  President  appoints  an  Ambassador  from  our 
nation  to  another  nation.  Now  there  is  one 
certain  principle  running  through  the  whole  com- 
plicated system.  The  man  elected  must  be  a 
citizen  of  the  district  or  state.  The  President 
must  be  a  citizen  of  the  nation.  So  the  ambassa- 
dor. It  is  not  only  essential  he  should  be  a 
citizen,  but  very  desirable  that  he  should  be  able 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM        79 

and  good.  A  strong  personality  for  he  is  to 
represent  a  district,  a  state,  a  nation.  He  should 
be  a  worthy  representative. 

For  it  is  further  a  principle  that  the  act  of 
the  representative  is  to  be  credited  to  the  repre- 
sented, in  effect  they  act  through  him.  What 
kind  of  laws  do  we  of  any  district  or  state 
want  made  for  our  government,  let  us  select 
wisely  our  law  maker  for  we  will  be  bound 
by  his  act.  He  acts  for  us.  What  kind  of 
relation  to  other  nations,  to  the  world  do  we 
want.  Let  us  select  wisely  our  president,  for  he 
will  represent  our  great  nation  of  100,000,000 
people — freedom-loving  people,  prosperous,  virtu- 
ous people — to  the  world,  and  we  will  be  bound 
by  his  actions.  If  we  want  to  be  credited  with 
lofty  actions,  let  us  select  a  lofty  personality  for 
our  representative,  for  we  must  be  credited  with 
the  act  of  our  representative.  Thus  a  person 
may  have  vast  dignity  in  himself,  be  a  wise 
patriot  and  statesman;  we  add  vast  dignity  to 
him  when  we  elect  him  the  President. 

Now  it  is  this  characteristic  of  human  nature 
that  the  Catechism  sets  before  us  as  it  begins 
to  teach  us  of  God's  salvation  from  sin  and  its 
terrible  punishment. 

What  does  God  need  toward  man?  A  repre- 
sentative. What  does  man  need  toward  God? 
A  representative.  The  Catechism  uses  a  word 
embracing  both  truths.  There  is  great  need  of 
a  mediator,  one  who  will  stand  between  two 
estranged  parties  and  bring  them  into  accord. 


80       THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

Wonderful  parties  these,  the  infinite  God  and  the 
whole  race  of  mankind ;  so  he  must  be  a  wonder- 
ful person  this  mediator. 

We  have  seen  how  God  is  estranged  from  us; 
how  his  righteous  indignation  is  aroused  against 
our  sinful  nature  and  sinful  acts — how  this  in- 
finite justice  must  ever  inflict  punishment  while 
sinful  nature  and  sinful  acts  last,  and  that  there 
is  no  hope  in  ourselves,  or  in  any  of  our  fellows 
of  passing  from  under  this  just  indignation. 

What  kind  of  a  representative  do  we  need  to 
deliver  us  from  this  just  indignation?  The  Cate- 
chism answers.  First:  he  must  be  a  true  man 
and  perfectly  righteous.  But  we  have  already 
looked  for  such  a  one,  and  have  not  been  able 
to  find  him.  Now  let  us  look  to  God  to  provide 
him.  He  must  be  a  true  man.  We  have  broken 
the  law  of  our  being,  and  have  come  under  the 
penalty  of  that  law.  A  representative  must  not 
be  of  another  order  of  being — however  great  and 
noble.  He  could  not  represent  the  nation,  he 
must  share  it  with  us,  must  be  a  fellow-citizen. 

He  must  be  perfectly  righteous.  Must  obey  this 
law  of  our  being  perfectly.  If  he  should  have 
broken  it,  he  has  already  dishonored  it,  and 
come  under  its  penalty  himself.  He  might  as 
such  represent  us,  but  alas  too  well,  he  could  not 
do  anything  beyond  what  we  could  do,  he  could 
not  deliver  us,  he  must  then  bear  the  punishment 
for  himself,  besides  he  then  could  no  longer  keep 
the  law  for  he  would  be  corrupt  as  we  are. 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM        81 

Now,  supposing  such  a  one  could  be  found  a 
true  man  who  was  perfectly  righteous,  what 
could  he  do  for  us.  He  is  a  mere  man  as  we 
are — a  person  of  great  dignity  and  worth,  but 
he  stands  only  for  himself.  There  is  nothing 
he  can  do  extra  to  keeping  the  law — the  law 
requires  his  whole  manhood.  If  he  offered  to 
sacrifice  himself  for  us,  he  would  have  no  right 
to  do  so — all  his  being  belongs  to  God  already, 
and  his  suffering  punishment  for  us  would  be 
unjust  in  itself,  and  not  accepted  by  God. 

It  requires  a  greater  person  than  a  mere  man 
however  noble  and  great  to  represent  the  whole 
race  of  mankind,  to  act  for  them  as  a  representa- 
tive in  such  vast  concerns  that  the  race  repre- 
sented may  be  fully  credited  with  the  worth  and 
effect  of  his  acts. 

There  are  two  prominent  things  we  need  done 
for  us  by  our  representative,  and  so  done  that 
we  may  be  assured  that  God  receives  them  as 
if  they  were  done  by  ourselves — for  that  is  the 
essence  of  representation.  The  first  is  that  the 
punishment  due  to  our  sins  should  be  borne  by 
our  representative  that  there  is  nothing  left  for 
us  to  bear,  that  justice  is  entirely  satisfied.  The 
second  is  that  a  righteousness  under  the  law  of 
our  being  complete  and  perfect  in  the  sight  of 
the  great  law  giver  should  be  secured  for  us  and 
applied  to  us — so  that  the  law  of  our  being  is 
fully  re-established  in  our  lives  with  all  its 
blessed  effects. 


82        THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

So  the  next  answer  of  the  Catechism  clearly 
sets  forth  that  our  mediator — our  representa- 
tive to  act  fully  for  us  in  such  a  way  as  to  supply 
all  needs  must  be  the  very  God.  In  one  person 
he  must  be  a  true  man  perfectly  righteous  and 
just  as  truly  he  must  be  God,  a  personality 
worthy  to  represent  not  a  family,  not  a  nation- 
ality, but  the  race  of  mankind ;  to  represent  such 
a  race  in  such  a  way  as  to  save  both  from  the 
punishment  and  the  corruption  of  sin  and  to 
restore  to  us  righteousness  and  life. 

Thus  we  are  brought  to  the  astounding  con- 
clusion that  no  creature  of  God,  no  creation  of 
His  infinite  power  can  ever  represent  us — that 
only  God  Himself  can  represent  us  by  assuming 
our  nature,  by  becoming  man,  the  God-man. 

Should  such  a  one  be  found  he  will  not  only 
represent  man  to  God,  but  he  will  just  as  fully 
represent  God  to  man.  That  which  is  the  cry- 
ing need  of  our  nature  a  worthy  representative 
meets  a  response  in  God's  nature  for  we  are 
created  in  His  likeness.  In  our  feeble  way  we 
are  searchers  for  truth,  but  we  so  often  unduly 
magnify  portions  of  truth  that  the  whole  is 
distorted. 

We  sometimes  hear  the  love  of  God  spoken 
of  as  if  there  was  no  righteous  indignation  in 
Him  against  sin — as  if  He  was  only  indulgent 
good  nature  as  we  sometimes  find  in  ourselves. 
But  we  know  there  is  such  a  thing  as  wrath  in 
God,  a  righteous  indignation  becoming  steadily 
and  flaming  forth  terribly  against  sin. 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM        83 

Then  we  sometimes  hear  the  wrath  of  God 
spoken  of  as  if  there  was  no  love  in  Him  for  the 
creature  He  made  in  His  own  likeness,  as  if  He 
was  only  exacting  sternness  such  as  we  some- 
times find  in  ourselves.  But  we  know  God  is 
love.  He  always  seeks  man's  welfare.  So  He 
cannot  indulge  him  in  the  sin  that  would  ruin 
him.  God,  although  He  loves  man,  created  in 
His  likeness,  is  at  variance  with  us  because  by 
our  sin,  we  have  arrayed  His  justice  against  us. 
How  much  does  He  love  us.  With  such  a  great 
astonishing  love,  beyond  comprehension,  that  He 
provides  a  representative  for  us  who  will  satisfy 
His  justice — He  becomes  our  representative  Him- 
self— He  takes  on  our  nature,  suffers  our  punish- 
ment for  us — becomes  the  God-man,  our  Savior. 

Man,  although  created  in  the  likeness  of  God, 
is  at  variance  with  Him,  is  restive  under  His  con- 
trol, disobeys  His  law,  has  more  or  less  enmity 
in  his  heart  against  God.  God  comes  closer  to 
man — takes  our  nature  upon  Him — suffers  for  us 
the  penalty  we  deserve.  He  so  reveals  His  love 
for  us  to  save  that  He  does  all  possible  to  remove 
our  distrust  and  dislike  and  win  back  our  hearts 
to  Him. 

When  God  becomes  man  to  represent  man  in 
all  his  needs  to  secure  a  full  supply  of  blessing 
for  him  He  in  that  very  act  provides  a  repre- 
sentative of  Himself  to  man  to  draw  him  into 
full  allegiance  with  Himself. 

The  representative  of  both  parties,  having  this 
relationship   with   both   parties   becomes   a   real 


84        THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

mediator,  removing  estrangement  and  replacing 
it  with  love.  The  estrangement  of  God  to  man 
exists  solely  in  His  just  condemnation  of  man's 
sin;  it  is  removed  by  having  this  justice  satisfied. 
The  estrangement  of  man  to  God  consists  solely 
in  his  dislike  of  God,  the  spirit  of  disobedience; 
it  is  removed  by  being  replaced  by  the  love  of 
God  awakened  in  him  by  God's  love  in  the 
mediator. 

All  we  have  to  do  is  to  trust  our  representa- 
tive, to  acknowledge  him  as  our  representative 
so  that  we  are  in  him  and  his  acts  are  credited 
to  us. 

The  culmination  of  God's  revelation  of  Him- 
self to  man  both  in  nature  and  in  the  Scriptures 
is  found  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  In  all  nature 
and  especially  in  man's  nature  we  see  the  great 
power  of  representation  and  the  principles  in- 
volved in  it  and  the  great  results  flowing  from 
it.  In  the  Scriptures  we  see  from  the  first 
promise  of  God  to  fallen  man  in  the  Garden  of 
Eden — through  the  giving  of  the  Law  of  God  on 
Sinai — through  the  long  history  of  God's  people, 
through  the  worship  of  priests  and  sacrifices, 
through  their  need  as  voiced  in  Poetry  and 
Oratory  by  psalmist  and  prophet,  the  culmination 
reached  at  length  in  the  fulness  of  time  in  Him 
who  is  the  son  of  man  and  the  son  of  God,  the 
Savior  of  mankind. 

The  angel  Gabriel  said  to  the  Virgin  Mary, 
"The  Holy  Ghost  shall  come  upon  thee  and  the 
power  of  the  Most  High  shall  overshadow  thee. 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM        85 

wherefore  also  that  which  is  to  be  born  shall  be 
called  holy,  the  son  of  God."  From  Mary  he 
took  his  human  nature,  a  man  born  of  a  woman 
— but  he  was  without  sin  since  he  was  born  of 
God — a  divine  being.  As  God  created  man  at 
first  in  His  own  likeness — so  this  likeness  is 
fully  restored  in  the  new  man — Jesus  Christ.  He 
was  tempted  in  all  points  like  as  we  are  but 
without  sin.  Through  His  whole  life,  the  revela- 
tion of  God  in  the  sinless  man — through  His 
suffering  and  death  on  the  Cross,  His  ressurec- 
tion  from  the  dead  and  His  ascension  into  heaven, 
we  see  His  saving  love  and  redeeming  power.  Our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  satisfies  the  claims  of  man's 
reason  and  the  hopes  of  his  heart  and  his 
highest  possible  thought  of  the  nature  of  God. 
He  is  the  great  mediator.  The  law  of  man's 
being  is  fully  realized  in  Christ.  The  King, 
Lawgiver,  the  Priest,  the  Prophet  are  all  ful- 
filled in  Him.  As  He  comes  from  the  great  white 
throne  to  this  dark  earth  of  sin,  beams  of  light 
from  his  glorious  person  break  through  our 
gloom  with  promise,  with  law  written  upon  our 
hearts,  with  ceremony  of  Temple  worship,  with 
song  of  praise,  with  exhortation  of  holy  life, 
with  divine  help,  with  aspiration  of  hope,  with 
loving  sacrifice  on  the  cross,  with  power  of  the 
broken  tomb,  with  full  acceptance  and  glorious 
triumph  in  the  return  to  the  throne  in  heaven. 

If  a  citizen  of  our  state  should  take  the  place 
of  another  citizen  in  suffering  the  penalty  of 
violated  law,  we  would  be  astonished  at  his  love 


86        THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

and  call  it  a  noble  act.  If  the  President  of  the 
nation  should  take  the  place  of  a  citizen  and 
suffer  the  penalty  of  violated  law,  the  whole 
nation  would  be  astonished  at  the  love  and  con- 
descension of  the  splendid  act.  If  a  Saint  from 
heaven  should  do  this,  the  race  itself  would  be 
filled  with  wonder. 

But  none  would  have  the  right  or  power  to 
substitute  himself  thus  to  save  another. 

But  the  Infinite  God  takes  the  place  of  man 
His  creature,  and  suffers  the  just  penalty  of  his 
sin — as  He  has  the  right  and  the  power  to  do. 
But  who  can  conceive  of  the  infinite  condescen- 
sion— and  the  infinite  love  of  this  redeeming 
sacrifice.  Let  it  appeal  to  our  heart's  love — 
break  down  all  opposition  to  God  our  Father  our 
Redeemer  and  bring  us  to  Himself,  to  the  Savior. 

The  remaining  Lord's  Days  of  our  Catechism 
set  forth  this  truth  of  salvation  in  Christ  fully. 

As  we  close  this  introduction  portion  of  the 
Catechism,  we  have  impressed  upon  us  that  its 
faithful  consideration  should  result  in  a  revival 
of  religion.  It  presents  so  fully,  so  clearly,  so 
impressively  man's  need  as  a  sinner  of  a  Divine 
Savior  that  all  of  us  are  at  once  thrown  into 
two  classes,  and  each  class  may  well  ask  con- 
science a  personal  question  of  vast  import. 

Those  who  have  not  yet  sought  personal  salva- 
tion in  Christ  may  each  one  ask.  Do  I  need  Him? 
You  are  a  sinner  in  nature  and  by  practice. 
There  is  no  hope  in  yourself.  You  need  Christ. 
There  is  no  hope  outside  of  Him.     He  is  given 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM        87 

you  by  the  love  of  God,  urged  upon  you  by  the 
love  of  God.  Do  not  resist  this  appeal.  Trust  in 
Him,  believe  in  the  Savior. 

Those  v^ho  are  saved  in  Christ  should  be  so 
impressed  by  the  consideration  of  the  lost  con- 
dition of  man  that  we  should  feel  the  deepest 
sense  of  obligation  to  Christ  that  He  took  com- 
passion upon  us.  And  the  deepest  gratitude  to 
Him  for  His  salvation.  He  saved  us  from  endless 
sin,  from  endless  misery.  He  has  given  us 
eternal  life  in  harmony  with  God,  our  obligation, 
our  gratitude  to  Him  should  fill  each  soul,  should 
be  the  spring  of  all  conduct. 

The  impulse  of  each  saved  soul  should  be  to 
bring  that  salvation  to  all  needy  souls,  to  show 
Christ  to  others,  an  impulse  to  persuade  all  to 
believe  in  the  Savior. 

A  revival  of  religion,  holiness,  living  close  to 
Christ — showing  Christ  to  all  needy  souls  about 
them — those  not  yet  believers  seeing  their  need 
and  coming  to  Christ  fo^  salvation —  may  such 
results  follow  our  consideration  of  this  part  of 
the  Catechism. 


VII. 

TWENTY-THIRD  LORD'S  DAY  OF  THE 
HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 


"RIGHTEOUSNESS  BY  FAITH" 

For  the  showing  of  his  righteousness  at 
this  present  season  that  he  might  himself 
be  just  and  the  justifler  of  him  that  hath 
faith  in  Jesus. — Rom.  3 :26. 

THERE  are  some  Lord's  Days  of  our  Cate- 
chism that  seem  to  stand  out  more  strong- 
ly and  distinctly  than  their  fellows;  that 
may  be  called  red-letter  days;  this  is  one  of 
them.  It  is  the  summing  up  of  the  Apostle's 
Creed.  What  is  the  result  of  your  believing  the 
creed  is  the  question.  The  answer  is  astounding. 
That  I  am  righteous  before  God.  How  can  this 
be  possible,  when  all  men  are  sinners  by  nature 
and  practice?  The  answer  is  as  distinct  and 
strong — I  am  righteous  in  Christ. 

Now  we  turn  to  our  text — and  it  is  a  red-letter 
text  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans.  It  has  just 
been  said  after  a  stern  indictment  of  human 
nature  of  both  Romans  and  Jews,  that  no  man 
can  be  declared  righteous  before  God  on  his  own 
record  and  nature,  for  all  have  sin.  The  text 
then  follows  with  the  astounding  statement  that 
the  righteousness  of  God  is   revealed,   that   He 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM        89 

might  be  just  and  the  justifier  of  him  that  hath 
faith  in  Jesus;  that  is  that  God  might  be  right- 
eous and  account  as  righteous  the  one  who  hath 
faith  in  Jesus,  God  reveals  his  righteousness  in 
Christ,  that  he  may  account  as  righteous  the 
one  believing  in  Christ. 

The  answer  of  the  Catechism  gives  us  the 
experience  of  the  believer,  and  it  is  in  harmony 
with  our  text. 

In  the  next  answer  of  the  Catechism  the  be- 
liever tells  us  his  condition  by  nature— describes 
clearly  and  fully  the  righteousness  he  possesses 
by  the  Grace  of  God,  and  then  he  describes  the 
faith  by  which  he  becomes  righteous  before  God. 
Now  if  any  of  us  have  this  experience  of  the 
believer   it   will   be  well   for   us   to   review   the 
grounds  upon  which  it  is  based  that  it  may  be 
strengthened ;  for  it  is  not  only  a  present  posses- 
sion but  one  we  may  expect  to  carry  with   us 
through  all  the  changing  scenes  of  this  life  and 
to  find  fully  realized  when  we  enter  the  presence 
of  Christ  at  the  right  hand  of  God  in  Heaven. 
Surely  if  any  of  us  are  conscious  that  we  do  not 
have  this  experience  of  the  believer  it  will  be 
well  for  us  to  consider  its  richness  and  fullness 
— its    desirableness   for   us — and    how   we   may 
obtain  it. 

The  believer  frankly  confesses  that  his  con- 
science accuses  him  of  having  grossly  trans- 
gressed all  the  commands  of  God,  that  he  has 
kept  none  of  them  and  that  he  is  still  inclined 
to  all  evil.  Surely  the  righteous  God  can  never 


90        THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

account  as  righteous  any  one  on  his  own  record 
and  nature  who  has  such  an  accusing  conscience, 
provided  the  accusation  is  at  all  true.  How  is 
it  with  ourselves?  We  know  the  law  of  God — 
the  law  of  our  being.  Love  God  with  all  your 
mind,  and  heart,  and  soul,  and  strength.  Have 
we  never  transgressed  this  law — have  we  always 
kept  it — are  we  inclined  to  keep  it?  What  says 
the  conscience?  The  law  of  God  says  also:  love 
your  neighbor  as  yourself.  This  is  love  your- 
self, as  the  highly  gifted  responsible  and  de- 
pendent creature  of  God — as  He  would  have  you 
love  yourself.  Then  love  your  neighbor  always 
and  in  all  respects  in  the  same  way  and  to  the 
same  extent  as  you  love  yourself.  Have  we 
never  transgressed  this  law?  Have  we  always 
kept  it,  are  we  inclined  to  keep  it  now?  What 
says  the  conscience? 

I  am  free  to  confess  to  you  my  conscience 
accuses  me.  I  cannot  look  it  fairly  in  the  face; 
it  frowns  upon  me.  It  is  well  for  us  to  face 
conscience  frankly  and  fully  on  this  question. 
We  creatures  of  God  on  this  little  ball  of  the 
earth  are  under  the  reign  of  law — we  cannot 
even  conceive  how  such  creatures  can  exist  under 
any  other  condition.  The  earth  itself  has  obeyed 
the  law  of  its  being — has  turned  us  toward  the 
sun  and  it  is  day.  We  have  obeyed  the  law  of 
our  physical  being — ^have  slept  during  the  night ; 
have  breathed  the  air,  have  taken  food,  have 
exercised  our  powers  and  have  gathered  in  this 
place  of  worship.     We  thinking  beings  are  now 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM        91 

obeying  the  laws  of  our  mental  nature,  and  are 
considering  the  subject  of  vast  importance.  We 
moral  beings  have  exercised  our  moral  sense 
and  have  discerned  the  law  of  our  moral  being — 
love  God  supremely  and  thy  neighbor  as  thyself. 
And  now  we  are  asking  our  conscience  the  judg- 
ing power  of  our  moral  nature  to  give  its  verdict 
upon  the  whole  of  our  past  life  and  upon  our 
present  character  under  this  law.  What  says 
each  conscience?  Does  our  conscience  commend 
us  as  righteous,  or  condemn  us  as  unrighteous? 
Let  us  hold  that  single  question  before  conscience 
— are  we  righteous — or  unrighteous?  What  is 
the  verdict? 

Let  us  avoid  the  various  refuges  guilty  beings 
are  prone  to  devise.  Let  us  not  try  to  excuse 
ourselves  or  to  indulge  the  hope  of  bettering 
ourselves,  or  to  think  we  can  sacrifice  ourselves 
or  our  possessions  in  any  way  or  degree  to  right 
the  wrongs  of  our  record  or  of  our  present  con- 
dition. Does  conscience  commend  us  as  keeping 
the  law  of  God,  the  highest  and  final  law  of 
our  nature  as  moral  beings?  Does  conscience 
condemn  us  as  having  transgressed  this  law  and 
as  prone  to  transgress  it?  What  is  its  verdict? 
Clear,  distinct,  final  it  says,  you  are  unrighteous. 
Having  listened  to  conscience  we  may  now  take 
the  case  to  a  higher  court.  We  may  appeal  to 
the  bar  of  God,  to  the  Judge  of  all  the  earth, 
to  the  great  white  Throne  of  Righteousness. 

We  are  liable  at  any  moment  to  be  called  to 
the  Bar  of  God,  we  have  no  claim  upon  a  single 


92        THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

hour  of  our  life.  It  is  surely  the  most  important 
object  man  can  desire,  to  be  pronounced  right- 
eous by  God — and  it  is  the  most  terrible  thing 
man  can  dread,  to  be  pronounced  unrighteous  by 
God.  Let  us  in  our  thought  anticipate  our 
standing  in  the  light  streaming  from  the  great 
white  throne  of  righteousness.  That  light 
searches  all  our  record — that  light  searches  all 
our  character.  If  conscience  condemns  us  as 
unrighteous,  surely  God  sees  more  clearly  and 
fully  than  conscience  and  is  more  righteous  than 
ever  the  most  aroused  and  quickened  conscience 
can  possibly  be — surely  God  condemns  us  as 
unrighteous.  We  may  regard  our  conscience  as 
having  awakened  to  a  clear  and  stern  view  of 
our  record  and  character — to  have  condemned 
us  as  unrighteous — to  have  arrested  us  and  to 
have  brought  us  before  the  bar  of  the  righteous 
God  that  we  may  know  our  true  condition  in 
His  sight.  And  the  result  is  terrible — we  are  con- 
demned as  unrighteous.  Looking  upon  our  real 
condition,  upon  our  record  and  character,  it  is 
absolutely  impossible  that  the  conscience,  that 
God  himself  can  pronounce  any  other  verdict. 
It  is  absolutely  true.  We,  all  of  us,  are  in 
ourselves  unrighteous,  and  there  is  absolutely 
no  hope,  no  prospect  in  ourselves  of  our  ever 
becoming  righteous.  No  hope  that  we  can  ever 
change  the  record  of  our  past;  no  hope  that  we 
can  reverse  our  present  character;  no  hope  that 
God  can  ever  say  of  any  single  one  of  us — he 
has  obeyed  fully  the  law  of  his  being — he  now 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM        93 

obeys  fully  the  law  of  his  being — no  hope  that  a 
single  one  of  us  can  ever  say  that  of  himself — or 
of  herself.  No  hope  that  any  one  can  ever  say 
I  always  love  God  supremely  and  I  love  always 
my  neighbor  as  myself — that  is  my  record,  that 
is  my  character,  that  is  my  assured  status.  No 
hope  of  pronouncing  ourselves  righteous,  no  hope 
of  God  pronouncing  us  righteous.  It  is  well  for 
us  to  clearly  and  fully  face  this  truth. 

Now  it  is  possible  that  facing  it  may  seem  to 
some  to  drive  us  to  recklessness  and  despair. 
That  surely  would  be  the  height  of  folly.  We 
all  recognize  that  while  we  seek  absolute  good, 
we  are  not  as  bad  as  we  can  be,  that  there  is 
a  large  element  of  relative  good  still  in  us,  for 
our  moral  sense  can  discern  the  perfection  of  the 
law  of  our  being,  can  approve  it  and  can  desire 
to  keep  it.  To  become  reckless  would  be  to 
cast  away  all  good  in  ourselves.  Besides  it  is 
quite  evident  God  has  not  cast  us  away — He  still 
holds  the  law  of  our  being  before  us.  He  has  not 
lowered  it  to  our  conditions;  He  does  not  thus 
indulge  us  in  sin.  True  there  is  much  distress 
and  misery  in  our  present  condition — and  much 
of  it  we  can  easily  trace  to  our  breaking  the  law 
of  love  to  God  and  man — we  may  regard  it  as 
the  penalty  of  violated  law,  the  frown  of  the 
law  giver.  There  is  also  much  good  and  happi- 
ness in  our  lot — much  of  it  we  can  trace  to  the 
partial  keeping  of  the  law  of  love — and  we  may 
regard  it  as  mercy  of  God.  Surely  God  has  not 
banished  us  from  his  presence. 


94        THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

While  there  is  no  hope  in  our  record  and 
character,  that  we  or  God  can  regard  us  as 
righteous,  there  is  still  hope  that  God  may  so 
reveal  His  righteousness  greater  than  our  highest 
thought,  that  He  may  make  us  righteous.  He  has 
not  lowered  the  law  of  our  being — He  has  not 
removed  his  goodness  from  us.  Nature  within 
us  and  nature  without  us  bid  us  not  to  be  reck- 
less, not  to  despair.  There  is  much  in  nature 
to  lead  us  to  fear  that  God  may  at  length  banish 
us  from  Himself,  the  source  of  all  good,  but  there 
is  also  much  in  nature  to  lead  us  to  hope  that 
God  will  save  us  from  our  hopeless  condition 
through  His  great  righteousness. 

Let  us  listen  to  this  teaching  of  nature  con- 
cerning God  the  revelation  of  Himself  in  nature. 
There  are  three  great  truths  of  nature  we  all 
accept  but  whose  importance  in  all  their  bearings 
it  is  hard  for  us  to  realize — First,  we  are  reason- 
ing beings — this  is  one  of  our  distinguishing 
characteristics.     It  is  a  wise  couplet 

"The  one  who  will  not  reason  is  a  bigot 
"The  one  who  dares  not  reason  is  a  slave." 

God  always  honors  man  as  a  reasoning  being. 
It  is  the  general  trend  and  calling  of  the  Scrip- 
tures. He  says  to  us  all,  "Come  let  us  reason 
together" — and  He  says  it  on  this  very  subject 
we  are  considering — "Though  your  sins  be  as 
scarlet  they  shall  be  as  white  as  snow." 

Let  us  seek  to  be  brave,  fair  reasoners  on  this 
most  important  subject — even  reasoners  with 
God. 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM        95 

The  second  great  truth  of  nature  is  we  are 
responsible  beings.  As  reasoning,  responsible 
beings  we  make  laws — the  conventions  of  society 
for  the  easy,  safe  and  pleasant  living  of  its  mem- 
bers— and  the  laws  of  cities,  states,  and  nations ; 
but  we  recognize  that  from  insufficient  knowl- 
edge and  wrong  ideals  and  motives,  some  of  our 
laws  may  be  defective.  As  we  thus  reason  with 
God  we  can  conceive  that  His  laws  are  perfect, 
from  His  full  knowledge  and  pure  motives. 

Now  we  not  only  make  laws,  we  administer 
them.  We  have  public  opinions  of  societies,  we 
have  mayors,  governors,  presidents.  But  here 
also  from  defective  knowledge,  wrong  ideals,  and 
wrong  motives  one  administering  law  often  is 
unequal  and  unjust.  As  we  reason  with  God  we 
conceive  that  His  administering  His  laws  from 
His  full  knowledge  and  pure  motives  is  beyond 
our  highest  ideals — is  absolutely  perfect. 

Now  we  not  only  make  and  administer  law 
but  we  have  Judges  and  Juries — a  judicial  ele- 
ment to  pronounce  upon  facts  as  to  violations  of 
our  laws  and  to  pronounce  suitable  penalties. 
Here  also  we  recognize  that  from  insufficient 
knowledge  and  wrong  feelings,  it  is  difficult  for 
us  to  get  at  the  facts  and  more  difficult  still  to 
award  just  penalties.  As  we  are  reasoning  with 
God  we  see  from  our  defects  how  far  short  we 
fall  of  His  perfectness,  that  as  Judge  He  knows 
fully  and  feels  rightly  and  judges  justly. 

The  third  great  truth  of  nature  throws  great 
light  on  our  subject.    In  all  our  doings  as  reason- 


96        THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

able,  responsible  beings  with  reference  to  mak- 
ing and  enforcing  law  there  is  a  principle  in- 
volved which  seems  necessary  and  whose  bearings 
in  all  directions  it  is  hard  for  us  to  realize.  It 
is  hard  to  cover  it  with  a  single  word  for  the 
word  we  use  is  so  common  that  it  has  lost  some 
of  its  greatness — the  principle  itself  is  so  familiar 
that  we  do  not  recognize  at  once  its  great- 
ness, it  is  Representation.  In  making  laws  we 
have  our  representatives  in  the  legislature;  in 
administering  laws  our  representative  is  governor 
or  president.  In  the  courts  of  law  our  repre- 
sentatives are  jurors  and  judges.  The  people  act 
by  our  representatives.  They  act  in  our  stead. 
We  are  honored  by  their  action.  This  seems 
essential  in  human  nature.  It  runs  through 
many  of  our  most  familiar  and  important  rela- 
tions of  life — family — business — social  as  well  as 
legal.  In  this  principle  of  representation  there 
are  two  elements  difficult  to  name  because  of 
their  greatness  and  familiarity  in  our  lives — 
these  are  Substitution  and  Suretyship.  The  presi- 
dent is  in  a  deep  real  sense  our  Substitute.  We 
are  in  a  deep  real  sense  his  Sureties.  Our  presi- 
dent acts  in  our  stead.  We  are  sureties  for  him 
that  his  acts  will  be  effective.  So  our  legislative 
and  judicial  representatives  act  in  our  stead  and 
we  are  sureties  to  make  their  act  effective — so 
in  the  family — parents  and  children — in  busi- 
ness, in  contracts,  in  employment,  in  society,  rich 
and  poor,  learned  and  unlearned,  high  and  low; 
as    well    as    in    legal    relations,    representation 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM        97 

prevails  with  its  two  elements,  substitution  and 
suretj^ship.  So  we,  reasoning,  responsible  beings, 
are  reasoning  with  our  God  as  He  calls  us  to  do, 
our  nature  itself  begins  to  give  us  a  glimmer 
of  hope,  that  suretyship  and  substitution  so 
prominent  in  our  nature  may  be  a  faint  reflec- 
tion of  the  perfect  character  of  God.  That  repre- 
sentation so  prominent  in  our  lives  but  so  hamp- 
ered by  our  lack  of  knowledge  and  by  our  impure 
ideals  and  motives  may  live  more  prominent  even 
in  the  nature  of  our  God  and  find  an  exercise 
toward  us  made  perfect  by  the  infinite  knowl- 
edge, wisdom,  resources  and  purity  of  God. 

Of  course  suretyship  and  substitution  have  dif- 
ferent degrees  and  values  among  us.  Some- 
times they  affect  only  property  and  reputation. 
Sometimes  they  affect  life  itself.  A  father  pays 
the  debts  of  a  wayward  son  and  gives  him  a 
new  start;  a  mother  nurses  her  boy  diseased  by 
sinful  ways  back  to  health  and  virtue,  wearing 
out  her  own  life.  There  have  been  cases  where 
substitution  has  been  allowed  in  war.  A  man 
was  drafted ;  he  must  leave  his  wife  and  children 
and  go  into  the  army.  But  a  friend  takes  his 
place  and  dies  in  battle  in  his  stead.  Napoleon 
is  said  to  have  visited  the  tent  of  a  favorite 
officer  and  he  found  him  in  a  troubled  sleep, 
while  on  his  table  was  a  list  of  his  debts  so  over- 
whelming that  he  had  written  under  it  the 
words:  "Whoever  can,  whoever  will,  pay  these 
debts."  The  Emperor  simply  wrote  under  these 
words  his  name:  "Napoleon."     When  the  officer 


98        THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

awoke  and  saw  that  name  his  troubles  all 
vanished  away — and  the  loyalty  to  the  Emperor 
was  doubled. 

Charles  Dickens  often  strikes  deep  chords  in 
human  nature.  In  the  "Tale  of  Two  Cities." 
The  English  lawyer  Carlton  strongly  resembled 
the  French  Aristocrat  Darney — he  takes  his  place 
in  prison  in  Paris — Darney  with  his  wife  and 
children  escape  to  London.  Carlton  dies  in  his 
stead  upon  the  guillotine.  The  story  is  true  to 
nature  in  that  ever  after  in  the  saved  London 
home  the  memory  of  Carlton  is  sacred  and 
precious.  The  story  is  also  true  to  nature  in 
that  Carlton  in  riding  to  the  guillotine  cheers 
the  heart  of  a  young  girl  riding  with  him  to 
her  death.  And  so  cheers  his  own  heart  also 
by  repeating  the  words  of  the  Great  Substitute: 
"I  am  the  resurrection  and  the  life.  He  that 
liveth  in  Me,  though  he  dies  yet  shall  he  live 
and  whosoever  liveth  and  believeth  in  Me  shall 
never  die."  So  the  whispers  of  our  nature  lead 
to  the  plain  clear  words  of  Scripture.  The 
revelation  of  God  in  nature  is  to  the  revelation 
of  God  in  the  Gospel  as  the  dawn  is  to  the  full 
shining  of  the  sun  at  noon-day.  Our  text  says 
the  righteousness  of  God  is  revealed  in  the  Gos- 
pel that  he  might  be  righteous  and  account  as 
righteous  the  one  believing  in  Jesus.  Our  studies 
of  the  Apostle's  Creed  have  taught  us  something 
of  the  glory  of  the  Person  and  Work  of  Christ. 
He  reveals  God  to  us,  represents  God  to  us  as 
His  well  beloved  Son.    So  revealing  God  He  takes 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM        99 

upon  Himself  our  nature,  becomes  a  man  under 
the  law  of  our  being.  As  such  He  represents  us 
to  God.  He  keeps  the  law  of  our  being  per- 
fectly. He  deserves  all  the  results  of  such  abso- 
lute righteousness ;  and  He  is  more  than  man  the 
infinite  son  of  God;  there  is  infinite  worth  in 
His  absolute  sinlessness,  His  perfect  obedience, 
and  He  is  our  representative. 

So  He  suffers  for  sin,  not  that  He  deserves  such 
suffering  in  the  faintest  degree.  He  even  dies 
for  sinners,  not  that  He  in  Himself  deserves  death 
at  all — He  dies  as  our  representative — our  sub- 
stitute— and  His  suffering  and  death  are  of  in- 
finite worth  since  He  is  the  infinite  Son  of  God, 
Christ  Himself  says :  "The  Son  of  Man  came  to 
give  His  life  a  ransom  for  many." — and  again 
He  says :  "My  body  is  broken  for  you — My  blood 
shed  for  you  for  the  remission  of  sins."  Christ 
Himself  says  both  of  His  representation  of  God 
and  of  His  representation  of  man  in  that  wonder- 
ful saying  containing  the  whole  Gospel:  "God 
so  loved  the  world  that  He  gave  His  only  Begotten 
Son  that  whosoever  believeth  in  Him  should  not 
perish  but  have  eternal  life."  So  the  believer 
says  in  our  Lord's  Day  of  the  Catechism,  "In 
myself  I  deserve  to  perish  I  deserve  to  perish, 
but  believing  in  Christ  I  have  eternal  life.  In 
myself,  my  record,  my  character  I  am  pronounced 
by  my  conscience — my  God  the  Judge — unright- 
eous— I  perish — but  in  Christ,  in  the  perfect 
satisfaction  righteousness  and  holiness  of  Christ 
I  am  accounted  righteous  even  as  if  I  never  had 


100      THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

any  sin.  Even  as  if  I  had  fully  accomplished 
all  righteousness  I  am  an  heir  of  eternal  life 
God  gives  me  all  this  not  for  any  merit  of  my 
own,  but  of  His  pure  grace." 

He  maintains  His  holy  law,  the  law  of  my 
being — in  that  He  keeps  it  Himself  in  the  person 
of  His  Son  and  He  deserves  all  the  benefits  that 
come  from  perfect  obedience  and  these  He  be- 
stowes  on  me.  He  inflicts  also  all  the  penalty 
of  broken  law  and  bears  it  all  Himself  in  the 
person  of  His  Son — that  which  I  deserve  He  bears 
for  me.  Now  He  accounts  me  as  righteous,  freed 
from  all  penalty,  entitled  to  all  blessedness 
because  I  am  in  my  representative.  I  trust  in 
Christ,  I  receive  by  faith  the  gift  of  God's  grace, 
Christ  is  my  surety,  Christ  is  my  substitute, 
Christ  is  my  representative — .  All  that  He  is, 
all  that  He  has  borne,  all  that  He  deserves  is 
mine.  I  could  never  claim  my  title  to  heaven 
in  myself.  But  I  have  a  complete  and  full  title 
to  heaven  in  my  representative,  the  glorious  son 
of  God  and  son  of  man,  my  Lord  and  Savior 
Jesus  Christ. 

The  believer  having  this  blessed  experience 
that  he  is  righteous  in  Christ,  freed  from  all 
penalty,  entitled  to  rewards  in  Christ  is  careful 
to  disclaim  all  merit  of  his  own,  the  merit  all 
belongs  to  Christ.  There  is  no  merit  even  in  the 
faith  that  rests  in  Christ.  He  simply  believes  in 
Christ  as  revealed  in  the  record  of  His  life  on 
earth  and  as  He  now  reigns  in  Heaven — he  has 
some  insight  into  His  nature  from  his  own  nature 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM      101 

that  is  capable  of  considering  and  acting  for 
others.  He  has  a  full  trust  in  Christ  acting  for 
him,  representing  him — and  so  he  is  impelled 
to  live  in  and  for  Christ — he  has  all  these  ele- 
ments of  a  saving  faith.  But  there  is  no  merit 
in  faith  itself.  Its'  the  hand  that  receives  God's 
grace,  the  faith  does  not  merit  the  salvation. 
Christ  alone  saves  and  He  saves  all  together.  We 
see  the  north  star  in  the  clear  heavens  and  learn 
a  little  about  it — a  blazing  sun  so  distant  that 
light  in  its  rapid  flight  takes  many  years  to 
reach  us.  But  our  seeing  the  star  is  no  part  of 
the  star,  if  the  clouds  hide  it,  if  we  shut  our 
eyes,  or  if  we  refuse  to  look  toward  it  the 
star  would  still  be  the  same.  We  look  and  we 
simply  see  it  shining  upon  us.  So  Christ  is  the 
infinite  Savior.  We  look  and  He  shines  upon  us, 
we  trust  and  he  saves  us.  The  next  Lord's  Day 
of  the  Catechism  will  tell  us  about  the  source  and 
value  of  our  own  good  works,  the  renovation  of 
our  nature  following  from  Christ  redeeming  life 
and  death.  We  will  leave  that  to  be  considered 
later. 

Now  as  in  thought  we  anticipate  again  our 
standing  before  the  great  white  throne  of  the 
righteous  God  our  conscience  is  fully  satisfied 
since  we  do  not  stand  in  our  own  character  and 
record,  but  in  our  representative  alone.  We 
know  God  will  declare  us  righteous  in  Christ, 
freed  from  all  penalty  since  He  has  borne  it  for 
us,  entitled  even  to  the  eternal  life  in  Heaven 
since  He  has   deserved  it  for   us,   righteous   in 


102     THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

Christ  since  we  believe  in  Him.  Among  the  many- 
things  the  future  contains  for  us  of  which  we 
can  only  conjecture  there  is  one  thing  certain. 
We  shall  all  stand  at  last  before  the  great  white 
throne.  Whatever  courses  our  lives  may  take 
we  are  all  moving  steadily  toward  that  throne. 
Shall  we  stand  there  condemned  or  justified? 
Condemned  surely  if  we  stand  in  ourselves. 
Justified  surely  if  we  stand  in  our  representative, 
Christ.  Each  one  of  us  must  stand  before  that 
throne  someday,  we  know  not  how  soon.  Shall 
it  be  only  in  our  own  merit,  our  record,  our 
character,  or  in  Christ?  Believe  in  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  and  thou  shalt  be  saved. 


VIII. 


TWENTY-FOURTH  LORD'S  DAY  OF  THE 
HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 


"JUSTIFICATION  BY  AND  OF  FAITH" 

Ye  see  that  by  works  a  man  is  justified 
and  not  only  by  faith. — James  2:24. 

IT  is  one  of  the  marvels  of  language  how  the 
change  of  a  little  word  between  two  great 
words  brings  our  thought  under  a  different 
horizon — almost  into  a  different  universe.  What 
little  words  are  by  and  of — what  widely  different 
truths  are  justification  by  faith  and  justification 
of  faith.  The  Epistle  to  the  Romans  is  held  by 
many  to  set  forth  this  first,  that  of  James  to  set 
forth  the  second;  but  in  reality  both  truths  are 
in  all  the  Epistles  as  realizing  together  the  whole 
Gospel. 

In  the  Last  Lord's  Day  of  our  Catechism  we 
considered  justification  by  faith;  in  this  Lord's 
Day  we  are  to  consider  justification  of  faith. 

It  is  well  for  us  to  seek  a  clear  and  concise 
description  of  both  in  order  to  illumine  the  soul 
in  all  the  varied  experiences  of  life — and  to  be 
fixed  in  the  memory  forever.  Justification  by 
faith  we  remember  is  our  being  pronounced 
righteous  by  God  the  Judge  on  account  of  the 
righteousness  of  Christ  in  whom  we  have  faith. 

103 


104      THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

If  we  are  righteous,  then  the  law  of  our  being 
has  nothing  against  us.  More  than  that  we  are 
entitled  to  all  the  rewards  of  obedience  to  that 
law.  We  saw  that  this  was  absolutely  impossible 
on  our  own  record  and  character.  It  could  only 
be  conceived  of  as  secured  to  us  by  a  representa- 
tive of  such  glorious  majesty  and  such  absolute 
righteousness  that  the  results  of  His  substitution 
and  suretyship  could  be  made  ours  by  the  right- 
eous Judge.  Character  we  know  cannot  be  trans- 
ferred from  one  person  to  another,  but  the 
results  of  character  and  life  can  be  and  are  so 
transferred  in  all  the  relationships  of  our  lives. 
Children  have  the  results  of  the  reputation  and 
standing  of  parents.  Citizens  are  bound  by  the 
characteristics  and  acts  of  their  representatives. 
From  such  experiences  we  can  see  how  the  right- 
eous Judge  can  say  of  the  one  having  faith  in 
Christ,  he  is  righteous  in  Christ;  he  is  entitled  to 
all  the  results  of  Christ's  righteousness. 

In  himself,  he  deserves  death,  the  penalty  of 
sin — but  Christ  has  suffered  and  died  for  him, 
has  fully  satisfied  all  claims  of  the  law  against 
him,  and  through  His  perfect  keeping  of  the  law 
Christ  has  merited  all  the  rewards  of  such  obedi- 
ence for  him,  even  of  eternal  life.  When  we 
consider  who  Christ  is,  the  Son  of  God  given  to 
us  of  the  Father's  love — who  for  love  of  us 
became  man  and  lived  for  us — and  suffered  and 
died  for  us,  we  begin  to  see  the  greatness  of  our 
representative,  and  the  infinite  worth  of  His  life 
and   death,   and  that  it  is  of   infinite   Grace  of 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM      105 

God  that  we  have  the  results  of  His  substitution 
and  suretyship,  that  nothing  of  our  own  can  in 
any  way  enter  into  our  being  pronounced  right- 
eous by  God  the  Judge — it  is  only  and  solely 
because  we  are  in  Christ  our  representative  and 
we  are  in  Him  only  by  faith ;  there  is  no  value 
in  our  faith;  it  is  simply  receiving  Him  as  our 
representative.  He  alone  has  borne  our  curse — 
and  has  merited  our  eternal  life.  Nothing  of  ours 
can  possibly  become  a  part  of  our  justification. 
Christ  is  the  representative.  His  work  is  com- 
plete. He  has  borne  the  curse  due  us.  He  has 
given  us  the  title  to  heaven.  We  are  as  if  we 
never  sinned,  as  if  we  had  always  been  righteous 
— as  if  we  were  now  entirely  righteous. 

God  the  Judge  declares  the  believer  righteous 
in  Christ: 

If  any  one  of  us  seeks  to  in  any  way  contribute 
to  his  own  justification  he  is  sure  to  fail.  He 
will  not  be  able  to  satisfy  his  own  conscience 
much  less  the  righteous  God.  The  only  righteous- 
ness that  can  stand  before  the  righteous  Judge 
must  be  perfect — and  this  alone  is  in  Christ. 
He  is  our  representative.  If  any  one  of  us  will 
simply  accept  God's  gracious  gift,  will  simply 
receive  Christ  as  our  representative,  then  we 
have  the  promise  of  God  "Whosoever  will  may 
come — and  whosoever  believeth  on  Him  shall  not 
perish  but  have  everlasting  life." 

This  is  justification  by  faith.  God  the  Judge 
declares  the  believer  in  Christ  righteous  in  Him. 


106      THE  HlLiDELBERG  CATECHISM 

Entitled  to  all  the  results  of  Christ  atoning  death 
and  perfect  life. 

Now  let  us  turn  to  the  justification  of  faith. 
There  is  such  a  thing  as  a  dead  faith  contrasted 
with  a  living  faith.  James  says  Faith  without 
works  is  dead.  Faith  is  justified  by  works. 
Years  ago  one  believed  the  Island  of  Cuba  existed, 
was  rich  and  beautiful  and  was  struggling  for 
its  freedom.  The  faith  enlarged  knowledge  but 
worked  no  change  in  living,  in  character.  Another 
believed  in  the  existence  of  the  Island,  in  all  its 
richness  and  beauty  and  became  so  interested  in 
its  struggle  for  freedom  that  he  left  his  own 
land  and  enlisted  in  that  struggle — that  faith 
worked  a  change  in  his  manner  of  life  and 
character.  So  many  believe  in  God,  in  Christ  the 
Son  of  God,  in  His  atoning  work  even,  have  an 
orthodox  faith  enlarging  their  knowledge,  but  it 
has  no  effect  upon  their  character — it  is  without 
works,  it  is  a  dead  faith.  Others  have  not  only 
this  intellectual  faith — may  indeed  have  far  less 
knowledge — but  they  trust  Christ  the  Savior 
and  follow  Him  in  loving  obedience;  they  have  a 
living  faith;  their  life,  their  work  form  a 
justification  of  their  faith.  As  they  grow  in 
appreciation  of  Christ  they  grow  in  His  likeness. 
Now  as  the  Island  of  Cuba  was  the  same  Island 
for  both  kinds  of  faith  so  Christ  is  the  same 
Christ  for  both  kinds.  His  life  and  His  death  are 
unchanged  in  their  value  of  our  faith. 

It  is  evident  that  the  living  faith  is  no  part  of 
the  righteousness  of  Christ,   it  simply   receives 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM      107 

the  gift  of  Christ,  trusts  Him  as  our  substitute, 
our  representative. 

In  our  human  nature  there  are  two  things 
involved  in  any  offered  gift — it  may  be  very 
valuable  in  itself,  but  we  may  even  when  we 
recognize  its  value  reject  it — or  we  may  accept 
it.  So  in  our  nature  there  are  two  things  in- 
volved in  accepting  a  gift — we  despise  a  man 
who  does  not  have  some  little  at  any  rate  of 
both.  One  is  some  appreciation  of  the  gift — 
some  desire  for  it,  the  other  is  some  gratitude 
to  the  giver. 

It  is  so  with  the  gracious  gift  of  Jesus  Christ. 
We  may  reject  Him,  even  when  we  see  something 
of  His  value — or  we  may  accept  Him. 

When  we  accept  Him  as  our  representative, 
we  must  have  some  little  appreciation  of  Him, 
some  desire  for  Him.  This  may  be  very  strong 
or  of  less  degree — but  it  must  exist.  We  recog- 
nize our  need  of  Him,  that  we  cannot  be  justified 
in  ourselves,  that  we  are  guilty  sinners  under 
the  condemnation  of  the  law — that  only  in  Him 
can  we  be  justified.  The  sense  of  sin,  its  power, 
its  guilt  varies  in  degrees  and  clearness,  but  is 
always  enough  to  lead  the  believer  to  value 
Christ  as  atoning  for  sin,  and  as  bestowing  life. 
So  with  gratitude  to  God,  for  the  gift  of  Christ, 
to  Christ  for  His  love  that  led  Him  to  die  that 
we  might  live,  it  may  vary  in  degree,  but  surely 
we  cannot  conceive  of  receiving  Christ  and  hav- 
ing no  gratitude  to  Him. 


108      THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

The  more  we  recognize  the  glorious  gift  of 
God,  the  more  we  recognize  the  glory  of  our 
representative,  the  son  of  God,  the  son  of  Man, 
become  there  in  the  representative  of  God  and 
of  man,  revealing  God  to  us,  and  representing  a 
sinful  race  to  God,  the  more  we  recognize  the 
glory  of  our  representative  in  living  for  us,  in 
dying  for  us,  the  more  we  must  appreciate  the 
gift  of  righteousness  in  Him — the  more  we  must 
have  gratitude  to  Him.  The  Apostle  Paul  says, 
"God  forbid  that  I  should  glory  save  in  the  Cross 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,"  and  adds,  "by  whom 
the  world  is  crucified  to  me  and  I  unto  the 
world." 

The  glory  of  God  shines  in  creation — the 
heavens  declare  His  glory.  He  makes  men  in  His 
own  likeness,  but  the  glory  of  the  Cross  excels 
all  else,  reveals  His  holiness  and  His  love  for  a 
sinful  race  to  redeem  from  sin  by  the  sacrifice 
of  Himself.  In  the  Cross  His  righteousness  is 
revealed  and  His  justice  manifested — His  holiness 
shines  forth.  His  love  conquers;  He  takes  the 
sinner's  place,  living  for  him,  dying  for  him — 
the  Glorious  Representative. 

The  Cross  becomes  the  only  ground  of  our 
justification  and  so  also  effectually  separates  the 
believer  from  the  power  of  sin,  "the  world  is 
crucified  unto  Him  and  He  unto  the  world." 

We  cannot  compare  justification  by  faith  and 
justification  of  faith,  one  is  a  change  of  condi- 
tion, the  other  is  a  change  of  character.  They 
always   co-exist.     We  separate  the  two   in   our 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM      109 

limited  thought;  they  do  not  separate  in  God's 
thought,  they  are  not  separate  in  reality.  Justi- 
fication by  faith  is  a  change  of  condition,  it  is 
instantaneous,  it  is  complete,  it  is  like  crossing 
a  line — one  instant  on  this  side,  the  next  on  the 
other  side. 

One  instant  the  man  is  in  himself  condemned 
as  a  sinner,  in  his  own  conscience  and  in  God's 
sight.  The  next  instant  he  is  justified  in  Christ 
in  his  own  conscience,  in  God's  sight.  The  one 
instant  he  stands  before  conscience,  before  God 
in  himself,  relying  on  his  own  record  and 
character.  The  next  instant  he  stands  before 
conscience,  before  God,  in  his  representative, 
relying  on  Christ's  record  and  character.  God 
the  Judge  pronounces  him  in  himself  unright- 
eous, and  conscience  says  it  is  true.  God  the 
Judge  pronounces  him  righteous  in  Christ  and 
conscience  says,  "by  thy  grace  it  is  true.  I 
trust  in  Christ  alone.  I  renounce  all  other  con- 
fidence.    I  trust  in  my  representative." 

By  this  trust  by  the  Grace  of  God — through 
the  life  of  Christ  a  change  in  character  is  begun, 
to  grow  in  various  ways  throughout  this  life  and 
to  culminate  in  the  life  to  come — a  turning  from 
sin — the  worldly  principle  of  living,  unto  Christ 
living  and  likeness.  Graciously  Christ  himself 
says — "Behold  I  stand  at  the  door  and  knock,  if 
any  man  hear  my  voice  and  open  the  door  I  will 
come  unto  him  and  will  sup  with  him  and  he 
with  me."  Christ  does  not  dwell  in  a  condemned 
soul — He   dwells   in   a   soul   He  has   already   re- 


110      THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

deemed,  giving  the  new  life  of  fellowship  with 
Him.  The  man  was  condemned  to  death  in  him- 
self, in  Christ  he  is  awarded  eternal  life — and 
Christ  dwells  within  him,  the  hope  of  glory. 
Christ  dwells  within  the  believer  pronounced 
righteous  before  the  law — the  condition  of  justi- 
fication by  faith  is  at  once  complete.  The  in- 
dwelling Christ  purifies  from  corruption  and 
establishes  holiness.  His  indwelling  thus  working 
through  the  faith  accepting  Him  and  grateful  to 
Him  a  change  of  character  to  be  completed  in  His 
own  good  way  and  time. 

The  Apostle  John  in  his  first  Epistle  shows 
the  relation  of  Christ  to  the  believer  in  both 
respects.  He  says  Christ  the  sinless  one  was 
manifested  to  take  away  sin — to  take  away  its 
guilt,  its  desert  of  punishment,  to  take  away  its 
power,  its  corruption  of  our  nature.  He  goes 
on  to  say  particularly  of  this  last  relation — "he 
that  sees  Christ,  that  knows  Him,  that  abides  in 
Him,  sinneth  not."  Through  all  degrees  of  these 
three  acts  of  course,  but  the  one  who  has  all 
three  has  the  direction  of  his  life  externally 
changed,  he  is  turning  from  sin  toward  right- 
eousness, toward  Christ  likeness.  It  is  the  last 
abiding  in  Christ — that  shares  his  life.  We  may 
see  Christ  as  revealed  in  the  Gospels — may  even 
believe  in  His  living  today  and  His  presence 
everywhere — it  enlarges  our  knowledge  and  stops 
there.  We  may  even  know  Christ  as  so  revealed 
and  so  present — may  have  some  quality  in  us 
that  appreciates  qualities  in  Him — as  His  good- 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM      111 

ness,  His  self-sacrifices — for  it  is  only  in  this 
way  that  one  person  knows  another — this  in 
highest  degree  leads  to  abiding  in  Him,  but  if 
it  does  not  reach  such  degree  it  simply  adds  to 
our  knowledge,  and  stops  there. 

If  we  still  are  controlled  by  sin — we  show  we 
have  only  this  dead  faith.  It  may  be  near  life, 
have  some  promise  of  life,  as  John  says — "but 
it  is  dead,  whosoever  sinneth  hath  not  seen 
Christ,  neither  knoweth  Him."  But  if  the  seeing 
Christ,  if  the  knowing  Christ  goeth  on  into 
abiding  in  Him — as  the  branch  abideth  in  the 
vine,  it  shares  His  life.  We  see  Christ,  we  know 
Christ  personal  appreciation  of  Him,  we  do  more, 
we  trust  Him  as  our  Savior,  we  live  in  Him. 

Christ  enters  and  dwells  in  the  soul — and  the 
soul  enters  and  dwells  in  Christ.  It  is  a  living 
faith — a  vital  relationship.  Christ  by  His  spirit 
dwells  in  us.    We  by  our  faith  dwell  in  Him. 

Such  a  vital  relation  has  a  large  element  of 
mystery  in  it.  Who  can  understand  life  in  its 
lowest  form?  How  can  we  understand  it — in  its 
highest  form. 

Perhaps  electricity  may  afford  a  vague  illus- 
tration. Have  you  ever  watched  the  process  of 
electro-plating?  There  is  a  large  tank  of  what 
seems  pure  water — it  is  an  acid  liquid.  In  one 
end  of  the  tank  hanging  from  a  wire  is  a  pitcher 
of  dull  metal — in  the  other  end  hanging  also 
by  a  wire  is  a  bar  of  solid  silver.  Now,  these 
two  wires  are  attached  to  the  opposite  poles  of 
an  electric  battery. 


112      THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

We  look  at  the  acid  water  in  the  tank — there 
is  no  motion — no  disturbance.  Now  look  at  the 
dull  metal  pitcher — it  begins  to  shine  more  and 
more  until  it  is  a  silver  pitcher.  A  mystery  of 
electricity  is  going  on.  But  after  all  it  does  not 
change  the  dull  metal  pitcher,  only  coats  it  with 
silver.  The  mystery  of  life  is  greater,  it  changes 
the  very  nature  within ;  it  is  no  longer  controlled 
by  sin  but  by  righteousness. 

The  only  question  now  is,  does  it  work,  or  is 
this  only  a  theory.  We  know  it  works.  Take 
the  disciples.  They  were  fallible  men — made 
mistakes,  were  tempted  by  sin.  But  at  once  when 
these  sins  were  recognized  they  repented  and 
never  again  walked  in  that  direction.  John, 
Peter,  Paul — would  it  have  been  possible  to  have 
led  either  into  a  known  way  of  sin  and  to  have 
kept  him  in  that  way.  We  know  it  would  not 
have  been  possible.  The  old  principle  of  living 
has  been  replaced  by  a  new  one — the  Christ  life 
in  them.  They  would  live  in  Christ  by  faith 
and  so  more  and  more  like  Christ.  It  is  said  of 
Chrysostom,  the  golden  mouthed  orator  that  an 
Emperor  desired  to  injure  him  and  called  together 
his  wise  counsellors  to  devise  a  way.  One  said 
confiscate  his  property.  No,  said  the  emperor, 
that  will  not  injure  him,  but  it  will  injure  the 
poor  he  is  constantly  helping.  Another  said, 
banish  him.  No,  said  the  emperor,  that  will  not 
injure  him — for  he  will  make  friends  wherever 
he  goes  and  God  will  be  with  him.  Another 
wise   counsellor   said,   kill    him.      No,    said   the 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM      113 

emperor — that  will  not  injure  him — that  will 
send  him  direct  to  heaven.  Then  the  wisest  of 
all  said,  Lead  him  into  a  course  of  sin.  Yes, 
said  the  emperor,  that  will  injure  him.  But 
here  they  failed,  for  with  all  their  wisdom  they 
could  not  devise  a  way  to  lead  Chrysostom  into 
a  course  of  sin. 

It  is  so  today  with  the  true  believer  in  Christ. 
To  the  degree  in  which  he  abides  in  Christ  he 
will  live  like  Christ,  in  the  family,  in  all  business 
relations,  in  all  social  relations,  in  the  Church, 
he  will  abound  in  good  works.  Good  works  are 
those  prompted  and  described  by  God's  law,  love 
of  God  supremely,  for  one's  self  as  the  creature 
of  God  and  love  for  our  fellow-man  of  the  same 
kind  and  degree  as  love  for  ourselves.  The  whole 
tenor  of  life  is  changed,  it  was  against  the  law, 
it  is  now  for  the  law. 

Still  we  cannot  think  of  these  good  works 
receiving  a  reward  of  their  own  worth  in  each 
believer  for  two  reasons — first,  they  are  not  per- 
fect— our  sinful  nature  is  being  dethroned,  but 
it  tinges  our  best  works  with  imperfection.  And 
in  the  second  place,  the  credit  for  our  good  works 
belongs  solely  to  Him  our  Savior  who  by  His  Holy 
Spirit  implants  His  life  in  us.  There  are  many 
temptations  and  trials  incident  to  the  life  of  a 
believer  in  Christ  and  one  is  sometimes  be- 
wildered by  their  greatness — and  that  the  heavi- 
est may  come  from  belonging  to  Christ,  as  Paul 
in  Prison — and  at  length  beheaded. 

Where   one   is   jutified   by   faith,    pronounced 


114      THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

righteous  by  the  Judge — when  one's  faith  is 
justified,  receiving  the  new  life  in  Christ,  why  do 
not  trial  and  temptation  cease,  why  not  be  taken 
out  of  this  sinful  world  at  once  to  the  heaven 
of  blessedness.  Two  answers  at  once  arise.  For 
the  sake  of  the  sinful  world.  So  that  Christ's 
Gospel  may  be  preached  by  the  believer  in  Christ 
by  the  words  of  persuasion  and  by  the  life  of 
commendation. 

Another  may  be  dimly  seen  in  the  evident  fact 
that  many  virtues  found  in  highest  degree  in 
heaven  could  never  have  been  formed  or  cultivated 
there.  It  is  so  even  with  many  virtues  and  graces 
of  our  blessed  Lord  Himself.  Well  may  the  angels 
desire  to  look  upon  the  mysteries  of  His  redeem- 
ing love  for  sinners.  So  with  those  He  has  re- 
deemed and  gathered  around  His  throne  of  glory. 
In  heaven  there  can  be  no  virtue  formed  by 
resisting  temptation  for  temptation  cannot  exist 
there;  there  can  be  no  patience  in  trial  for  trial 
cannot  enter  there — so  faith  in  darkness,  long 
suffering  from  evil  conditions,  endurance  in 
adversity.  What  a  host  of  virtues  when  we 
come  to  think  of  it  can  be  cultivated  only  in 
this  sinful  world.  Let  us  not  murmur  at  our  lot, 
but  rejoice  that  we  are  honored  with  commend- 
ing the  Gospel  to  a  sinful  world  and  that  Christ 
our  Lord  is  faithful  to  our  best  interests  in  the 
trials  He  is  leading  us  through  to  the  heavenly 
life.  They  may  be  very  severe  even  to  the  last, 
but  He  loves  us  too  wisely  to  make  them  shorter 
or  less  trying. 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM      115 

It  is  said  that  the  Emperor  Moth  is  the  most 
beautiful  of  all  the  butterfly  family;  it  has  long 
wings  most  brilliantly  colored.  Now  the  Emperor 
Moth  has  a  great  struggle  when  it  breaks  forth 
from  the  cocoon  stage.  You  watch  it  in  the 
struggle  and  touched  with  pity  you  try  to  help 
it,  with  a  sharp  knife  you  cut  the  strong  threads 
— and  it  comes  forth  quickly  and  easily,  and  flies 
away.  But  I  thought  you  said  it  had  large 
wings — they  are  small.  You  said  the  wings  were 
brilliantly  colored — these  are  dull.  Yes,  there  is 
the  trouble;  the  wings  were  to  be  developed  in 
size  and  their  fine  colors  were  to  be  brought  out 
by  the  great  struggle  in  breaking  forth  from 
the  cocoon.  You  were  not  wise  for  by  your 
pity  in  freeing  the  poor  worm  from  the  struggle, 
you  have  spoiled  the  whole  life  of  the  butterfly. 
We  may  pray  in  all  our  struggles  for  strength, 
even  for  relief  if  you  will  but  it  should  be  in 
the  faith  of  Christ.  "Thy  Will  be  done"— as 
He  prayed  in  His  great  trial — and  so  became  the 
triumphant  Savior. 

Christ's  sympathy  for  us  will  we  are  sure  be 
wise  as  well  as  kind.  He  designs  the  very  best 
for  each  one  of  us  in  the  heavenly  and  eternal 
life. 

When  we  reach  heaven  at  last,  when  we  awake 
in  His  likeness,  we  will  ascribe  to  Him  all  the 
praise.  He  died  for  us.  He  lived  for  us.  He 
lived  in  us — He  brought  us  to  heaven.  All  the 
praise — all  the  glory  belongs  to  Him.     Not  with 


116      THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

us.     Not  unto  us.     Not  unto   us,   but  unto   the 
God  of  our  salvation  be  all  the  praise. 

Trial  and  temptation  do  not  cease,  it  is  through 
meeting  these  in  the  spirit  of  Christ  that  the 
Christian  virtues  are  developed — grow  not  only 
for  the  Heavenly  life  and  service  as  well  for  the 
advancing  the  kingdom  of  heaven  on  the  earth. 
To  be  a  Christian  is  not  only  to  be  justified  by 
God  as  in  Christ  but  being  in  Christ  as  the 
source  of  new  life  to  live  like  Christ.  The  justi- 
fication by  faith  results  in  the  justification  of 
faith — in  God's  sight — in  the  sight  of  conscience, 
in  man's  sight.  The  Christian  to  the  degree  of 
his  faith  in  Christ  lives  in  his  home  as  Christ 
would  live.  If  he  is  an  employer  of  labor  he 
treats  the  laborer  as  Christ  would  treat  him.  If 
he  is  an  employee,  he  treats  his  work  as  Christ 
would  do.  If  he  is  a  member  of  the  Board  of 
Directors  of  a  great  corporation,  his  influence  is 
Christlike,  to  the  degree  of  his  faith  in  Christ. 
If  he  is  in  political  office  or  management — he  to 
the  degree  of  his  faith  is  Christlike.  So  at 
large  the  Christian  Church  to  the  degree  of  its 
faith  is  like  Christ  in  doing  good  to  the  commu- 
nity and  to  the  world.  So  civilization  is  Chris- 
tian only  to  the  extent  of  its  living  like  Christ, 
that  virtually  is  the  extent  of  the  influence  on 
public  opinion  of  true  believers  who  live  like 
Christ. 


IX. 


TWENTY-FIFTH  LORD'S  DAY  OF  THE 
HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 


"SOURCE  OF  FAITH" 

By  grace  have  ye  been  saved  through 
faith,  and  that  not  of  yourselves.  It's  the 
gift  of  God  not  of  works  that  no  man 
should  glory. — Eph.  2 :8,  9. 

IN  our  studies  of  the  Apostle's  Creed,  we  have 
already  paid  some  attention  to  the  articles 
concerning  the  Church  and  the  Communion 
of  Saints.  This,  and  several  following  Lord's 
Days  of  our  Catechism  treat  with  greater  elabo- 
ration of  the  life,  the  methods  and  the  aims  of 
the  Christian  Church.  When  Christ  said :  "Upon 
this  rock  I  will  build  my  Church,"  we  understand 
He  referred  to  the  confession  of  faith  in  Him,  as 
the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God.  It  is  quite  true  to 
our  human  nature  that  those  having  such  a  faith 
should  group  themselves  together  in  a  special 
organization.  Christ,  the  object  of  this  faith, 
who  thus  groups  believers  together  and  is  their 
head,  has  given  His  Church  two  significant  rites : 
Baptism,  the  rite  of  entrance — and  The  Lord's 
Supper,  the  rite  of  maintenance.  He  has  also 
prescribed  certain  principles  for  the  government 
of   the   Church   and   has   given    His    Church    a 

117 


118      THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

special  work  to  do  in  the  world.  It  is  of  these 
subjects,  these  few  Lord's  Days  of  the  Catechism 
treat  with  some  elaboration.  Of  Faith  in  its 
source — of  the  nature  and  use  of  the  Sacraments 
— of  the  government  of  the  Church  and  of  the 
spirit  of  grateful  life  service. 

The  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians  may  well  be 
called  the  Epistle  of  the  glory  of  the  Church  of 
Christ.  It  shows  that  God  has  exalted  Christ 
to  be  the  Head  of  the  Church — and  the  Ephesians 
who  were  without  God  in  the  world  are  now  of 
the  household  of  God  and  are  growing  into  a 
holy  temple  for  the  habitation  of  God  by  the 
Spirit.  They  were  dead  in  trespasses  and  thus 
they  were  afar  off  and  had  no  hope.  Now  they 
are  made  nigh  in  the  blood  of  Christ.  God  hath 
raised  them  up  and  made  them  sit  in  Heavenly 
places  in  Christ  Jesus.  God  shows  in  the  years 
to  come  the  exceeding  riches  of  His  grace  in 
kindness  toward  Paul,  the  writer,  toward  the 
Ephesians,  towards  us  in  this  far  off  land  and 
age,  in  Christ  Jesus. 

Paul  speaks  to  his  and  to  their  experience  and 
to  our's  as  well  when  he  uses  the  text,  "By  grace 
have  ye  been  saved  through  faith — and  that  not 
of  yourselves,  the  Gift  of  God."  We  thus  can  easily 
see  the  glory  of  the  Church  is  being  saved  hy 
grace  and  showing  this  grace  to  all  the  ages — 
saved  by  grace  and  proclaiming  to  the  world 
salvation  by  the  grace  of  God  in  Christ. 

Our  Lord's  Day  of  the  Catechism  has  taught 
the  spirit  of  the  text.    Whence  is  the  faith  that 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM      119 

makes  us  partakers  of  Christ's  salvation,  it  asks 
— and  this  answer  is  prompt  and  clear:  "The 
Holy  Ghost  works  faith  in  our  hearts  by  the 
preaching  of  the  Gospel  and  confirms  it  by  the 
use  of  the  Sacraments."  The  text  says  salvation 
is  by  grace  through  faith,  the  gift  of  God — and 
the  Catechism  shows  how  the  Holy  Ghost  works 
faith  in  our  hearts. 

Our  natural  pride  of  heart  is  apt  to  exaggerate 
and  misconstrue  the  statement  of  the  Scripture, 
"that  faith  is  the  gift  of  God"  into  the  conclusion 
that  faith  is  a  new  power  of  the  soul  that 
others  do  not  have  and  that  this  new  power 
separating  a  few  from  the  whole  race  of  man- 
kind, is  given  to  the  selected  few  by  the  sovereign 
choice  of  God. 

The  Catechism  guards  us  against  this  spiritual 
pride  by  showing  how  the  Holy  Ghost  works 
faith  in  us  by  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  and 
the  use  of  the  Sacraments.  The  nature  and  use 
of  the  Sacraments  are  so  fully  treated  in  the  next 
Lord's  Days  that  we  need  only  to  glance  at  them 
now.  Christ,  the  head  of  the  Church,  instituted 
them.  He  selected  the  most  simple  things  known 
among  men — washing  with  water  and  eating 
bread.  He  made  these  significant  of  washing  the 
spiritual  nature,  the  soul,  and  feeding  the  soul 
with  Himself.  He  associated  with  these  simple 
acts  His  promise  of  full  salvation.  As  the  Cate- 
chism teaches,  "by  the  use  of  these  He  more  fully 
declares  and  seals  to  us  the  promise  of  the  Gos- 
pel."    The  whole  idea  of  Christ  seems  to  make 


120      THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

clear  and  sure  by  the  most  simply  acts  His 
saving  grace  as  received  and  applied  to  the  needy 
soul.  Again  the  natural  pride  of  the  human 
heart  has  clustered  around  these  simple  rites 
of  initiation  into  the  Christian  Church  and  es- 
pecially of  the  maintenance  of  the  Christian  life 
a  number  of  mysteries  and  even  magical  influ- 
ences calculated  to  centre  faith  in  them  as 
channels  of  the  sovereign  choice  and  powers  of 
God.  Even  the  word  "Sacrament"  we  use  con- 
cerning them  is  of  our  own  selection  and  has 
some  meanings  evidently  foreign  to  the  simple 
teachings  of  our  Lord. 

Leaving  the  further  consideration  of  the  Sacra- 
ments to  the  coming  Lord's  Days,  let  us  now 
consider  "Faith  as  the  gift  of  God,"  and  how 
the  Holy  Ghost  works  faith  in  our  hearts — how 
we  are  saved  by  grace,  and  what  is  the  purpose 
of  the  Christian  Church;  the  mission  Christ  has 
given  His  Church  to  do  in  the  world. 

If  you  ask,  "How  did  these  Ephesians  become 
Christians?"  the  answer  is,  "The  Gospel  was 
preached  to  them."  Christ  had  lived  and  died 
in  Judea.  He  rose  from  the  dead  and  was  living 
at  the  right  hand  of  God,  His  work  of  salvation 
fully  accepted.  Men  believing  this  Gospel  had 
traveled  as  far  as  Ephesus  and  there  preached 
it  to  all  whom  they  could  reach,  and  they  lived 
it  before  men.  Some  who  heard  had  been  so 
impressed  by  the  message  and  the  life  of  the 
believers,  that  they,  too,  believed,  and  these  be- 
lievers  formed    the    Church    at    Ephesus — they 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM      121 

were  grouped  together  by  this  belief,  and  they 
used  the  Sacraments  to  make  more  clear  and 
more  sure  their  belief  in  Christ. 

But  there  were  some  in  Ephesus  who  did  not 
hear  the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  and  there  were 
some  who  heard  so  carelessly  or  with  such  oppo- 
sition that  they  did  not  believe  in  Christ.  With 
reference  to  the  first  class,  the  fact  that  they  did 
not  hear  is  to  be  attributed  to  the  providence  of 
God  in  the  use  of  means,  that  is  it  is  due  to  the 
small  number  comparatively  of  the  believers 
preaching  the  Gospel  and  to  their  inability  or 
inefficiency  to  preach  to  all  the  Ephesians.  With 
reference  to  the  second  class,  those  who  hearing 
and  from  carelessness  or  opposition  did  not  be- 
lieve, was  that  to  be  attributed  to  the  sovereignty 
of  God  in  not  bestowing  upon  these  the  gift  of 
faith — was  it  because  they  could  not  believe — 
were  destitute  of  the  power  of  faith?  Did  those 
who  believed  have  a  new  power  given  them  by 
the  sovereign  choice  of  God,  and  did  they  believe 
from  that  reason  that  they  could,  had  the  power 
to  believe,  while  the  others  had  no  such  power 
and  so  could  not  believe? 

The  asking  of  this  question  of  those  living  in 
that  far  off  place  and  age  makes  the  question 
itself  very  clear;  but  the  conditions  are  exactly 
the  same  today  with  us  in  this  Christian  land — 
and  in  heathen  lands.  Only  with  reference  to  the 
answer  to  be  given  to  it,  we  have  a  more  full 
understanding  of  the  nature  and  character  of 
God  and  of  the  special  work  of  the  Holy  Ghost 


122      THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

from  the  whole  Bible  and  from  the  history  of 
the  Church  and  of  the  world  from  Bible  times — 
and  also  we  have  a  large  and  more  intimate 
knowledge  of  nature  itself  and  especially  of  our 
own  spiritual  nature.  As  we  ask  the  question  of 
the  Ephesians,  they  give  no  answer.  As  we  ask 
the  question  of  the  Bible  and  of  ourselves,  the 
answer  becomes  quite  clear. 

Man  as  man,  the  creature  of  God,  has  the 
power  of  faith.  However  weak  or  depraved  the 
living  man  may  be,  he  has  the  power  of  faith 
in  its  four  essential  elements — he  believes  in  the 
existence  of  anything  on  sufficient  evidence ;  he 
has  an  insight  in  qualities  found  in  persons  and 
so  believes  in  them ;  he  has  the  power  of  trusting 
his  interests  in  the  hands  of  persons  and  so  has 
faith  in  them — he  has  the  power  of  directing  his 
life  to  persons  and  causes  by  his  faith  in  them. 
We  have  already  in  this  Lord's  Day,  treating  of 
the  "I  believe  in"  of  the  Apostle's  Creed,  con- 
sidered these  powers  of  faith.  Whenever  a  being 
in  the  form  of  man  is  found  without  this  power 
of  faith,  in  any  single  one  of  its  four  elements, 
we  count  him  as  demented ;  as  mentally  and 
morally  deficient. 

If  we  ask  further,  is  there  essential  difference 
in  this  faith,  as  it  is  directed  toward  man  or 
toward  God,  we  must  recognize  that  it  is  only 
in  the  matter  of  direction  and  that  this  is  only  in 
the  matter  of  degree.  There  may  be  aversion  to 
believe,  to  insight,  to  trust,  to  a  principle  of 
action   toward   man,    and   this    may    exist    also 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM      123 

toward  God.  But  a  man's  aversion  to  a  thing 
or  a  person  does  not  destroy  his  freedom  of 
choice.  A  patient  may  be  horribly  averse  to  a 
physician  and  to  the  medicines  he  prescribes, 
yet  he  may  trust  him  and  take  it  or  not,  as  he 
pleases,  and  his  life  may  depend  on  his  choice. 
Faith  is  always  the  act  of  a  man.  Of  its  essence 
it  must  be  voluntary.  God  does  not  believe  for 
us.  The  Holy  Ghost  does  not  force  us  to 
believe :  that  would  not  be  our  act  at  all,  it  would 
be  His  alone. 

The  text  says,  "Faith  is  the  gift  of  God."  The 
Catechism  says  the  Holy  Ghost  works  faith  in 
our  hearts.  When  we  ask  the  question,  "How 
does  God  work?"  we  recognize  the  question  is 
essential  to  our  mental  life;  that  we  would  not 
be  thinking  beings  if  we  did  not  ask  it.  And 
we  also  recognize  that  we  are  learners  under 
the  Great  Teacher,  children  at  school,  and  that 
He  is  pleased  when  we  learn  of  Him.  Surely  we 
are  being  taught  by  God  himself  when  we  look 
out  upon  nature  about  us — when  we  look  into 
our  own  natures,  and  when  we  try  to  read  aright 
the  teachings  of  Prophets  and  Apostles,  and 
especially  when  we  listen  to  the  teachings  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

We  live  in  a  day  when  science  has  discovered 
many  truths  in  nature  and  when  it  is  now  in- 
tently studying  the  powers  of  the  soul  of  man. 
It  asks  this  question  of  origin.  It  has  studied 
the  material  universe — the  mineral  kingdom,  and 
it  goes   back   through   the   various   phenomenal 


124      THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

elements  to  the  atom — farther  back  still  to  the 
constituents  of  the  atom  of  each  element,  the 
positive  electron  of  its  nucleus  around  which 
revolves  the  negative  electrons.  These  various 
electrons  resist  and  attract,  repel  and  combine, 
they  have  the  power  we  call  force,  which  rules 
in  the  sweep  of  the  constellations  of  blazing  suns 
and  in  the  formation  of  our  earth  and  its  move- 
ments about  our  little  sun.  Whence  the  atom 
and  its  wonderful  powers  and  laws?  We  ask, 
and  science  can  only  answer — God.  We  look  out 
upon  the  earth  covered  with  vegetation  and  teem- 
ing with  life  in  waters,  and  air  and  on  land. 
Whence  this  life,  of  lov/est  order,  of  ascending 
grades?  We  ask  and  science  can  only  answer — 
God.  We  have  investigated  thoroughly.  We  find 
it  does  not  come  from  dead  matter — plant  life 
only  comes  from  a  seed — animal  life  only  comes 
from  animal  life.  We  go  back  and  back  and 
back.  Life  only  comes  from  the  Life  Giver — the 
God  who  made  the  atom — He  also  made  the  plant 
and  the  animal. 

Now  we  come  to  ourselves :  beings  who  have 
intellect,  who  can  read  the  thoughts  of  God  in 
nature,  beings  who  have  personality  with  all  its 
wonderful  powers  and  kinships,  who  can  think 
and  feel  and  choose — who  are  moral  persons 
knowing  the  distinctions  of  right  and  wrong,  and 
having  a  choice  of  one  or  the  other.  Whence  this 
being?  We  ask — science  answers  from  God,  the 
Person,  not  from  the  Material  Atom,  not  from 
the  senseless  vegetations,   not  from  the  imper- 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM      125 

sonal,  unmoral  animal — Man  can  only  come  from 
God.  So  this  highly  gifted  being,  the  being  hav- 
ing faith,  believing  on  evidence,  having  insight 
of  personal  qualities,  trusting  persons,  control- 
ling himself  by  faith,  thinking  with  all  his 
powers,  is  the  creature  of  God. 

Wonderful  powers  of  faith,  but  man  should 
not  be  proud — he  has  not  made  it  by  his  own 
action.  Faith  itself  is  the  gift  of  God.  Still 
the  question  arises — this  faith  in  its  highest 
reach,  which  distinguishes  the  spiritual  from 
the  material  man,  which  is  not  limited  to  the 
present  order  of  persons  and  things,  of  sense 
and  times,  which  reaches  into  the  high  sphere  of 
persons  and  things  unseen  and  eternal.  Whence 
this  faith?  Again  science  can  only  answer — 
God.  But  now  we  see  a  wonderful  law  of  God's 
working,  the  answer  nature  gives  to  the  question 
of  the  mind,  of  how  God  gives  faith.  In  all 
the  wonderful  process  of  creative  powers  from 
the  original  atom  to  the  loftiest  man,  each  grade 
of  the  upward  process  is  based  upon  the  lower. 
The  vegetable  seed  of  life  comes  from  the  Life 
Giver,  not  from  the  dead  matter;  but  it  draws 
into  its  new  power  the  properties  of  the  matter. 
It  is  not  independent  of  or  separated  from  the 
electron  and  its  force,  but  takes  it  up  into  new 
combinations.  So  animal  life  is  based  upon 
the  material  creation  and  the  vegetable  life.  It 
breathes  the  air,  treads  the  earth  and  lives  upon 
its  growth.  So  man  while  having  powers  above 
the  animal,  while  he  is  from  the  Great  Person, 


126      THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

God,  and  having  powers  of  personality,  in  like- 
ness of  God,  still  he  is  based  upon  and  dependent 
upon  the  animal,  up  grade  after  grade  upon  the 
atom.  We  see  that  God  gives  life,  and  also  we 
have  a  glimpse  of  how  He  gives  it.  He  does  not 
throw  away  his  prior  rights,  but  adds  to  them. 
He  gives  life  in  all  its  grades;  but  this  gift  in 
its  application  is  related  to  and  takes  up  into 
itself  the  nature  upon  which  it  is  based  and  with 
which  it  grows. 

So  in  His  greatest  gift  of  Eternal  Life,  God 
is  the  Life  Giver — He  gives  His  life  in  His  Son, 
who  takes  upon  Himself  our  nature — lives  for 
us,  dies  for  us,  appeals  to  us,  lives  in  us.  When 
we  ask,  "How  does  God  work  faith  in  us" — the 
answer  nature  and  the  Bible  both  give  is  that 
God  ever  works  constructively.  He  begins,  car- 
ries on,  and  completes  His  work.  Not  by  casting 
aside,  by  destroying,  but  by  keeping  and  adding. 
That  much  abused  and  much  misunderstood  and 
opposed  word  "evolution"  becomes  of  large  sig- 
nificance when  we  can  describe  it  not  as  mater- 
ialistic, but  as  Christian.  God  is  the  Author  of 
the  great  plan — and  presides  over  every  step  of 
its  unfolding.  He  created  the  star  dust,  the 
wonderful  electron  atom — He  formed  the  universe 
of  blazing  suns  and  this  beautiful  earth  upon 
which  we  dwell.  He  gives  the  life  in  all  its 
forms  which  makes  this  earth  its  home,  even 
the  high  mental  and  moral  life  of  mankind, 
and  He  gives  the  eternal  life  in  His  Son,  our 
Savior.     "To  know  God  and  Jesus  Christ  whom 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM      127 

He  hath  sent  is  Eternal  Life."  He  always  gives 
by  using  that  already  given  and  adding  to  it. 
It  gives  new  direction  to  old  powers,  new  appli- 
cation to  such  powers  in  the  new  life. 

God  does  not  contradict  Himself  in  His  works, 
so  that  His  conduct  at  any  single  point  is  in- 
dependent of  and  separate  from  the  rest.  What- 
ever control  he  exercises  over  man  and  in  man, 
is  consistent  with  the  free  agency  He  originally 
gave  man.  God  never  coerces  man.  As  a  free 
agent,  man  fell  into  sin — as  a  free  agent  he 
remains  in  sin — so  as  a  free  agent  he  has  faith 
in  Christ  and  is  saved  from  sin.  Faith  is  not  a 
new  power  given  to  a  special  few,  but  the  power 
possessed  toward  men,  now  taking  the  direction 
toward  God,  and  the  change  of  direction  is  worked 
by  God  in  the  natural  way  by  presenting  Christ 
as  the  incentive  and  object  of  faith.  God  works 
by  laws,  a  regular  procedure — Man  discovers  and 
obeys  laws.  In  nature  obedience  to  law  may  be 
without  conscious  dependence  upon  God,  and  se- 
cures the  natural  results — the  harvest  from  sow- 
ing the  seed,  but  loses  ever  in  this,  the  highest 
realm  of  the  harvest,  as  a  gift  of  God.  But  in 
salvation,  obedience  to  God  includes  conscious 
dependence  upon  God — the  surrender  of  the  soul 
to  God  in  the  use  of  and  obedience  to  the  truth 
and  in  trust  and  obedience  to  God  in  Christ. 

The  idea  of  a  capricious  God  is  not  found  in 
nature,  nor  yet  in  the  Bible.  God  is  sovereign, 
both  nature  and  Bible  agree,  but  capriciousness 
belongs  to   earthly   kings,   not  to  the   Heavenly 


128      THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

King.  He  saves  according  to  the  pleasure  of  His 
own  will.  But  we  know  His  character,  we  know 
His  will  is  good  to  the  children  of  men.  Listen 
to  Christ:  "God  so  loved  the  world  that  He  gave 
His  only  Begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth 
in  Him  might  be  saved."  The  Apostle  John 
says  the  gospel  "was  written  that  we  might 
believe  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God, 
and  so  have  life  in  Him."  The  Apostle  James 
says,  "Of  His  own  will  begat  He  with  the  word 
of  truth."  The  Apostle  Peter  says:  "Ye  are 
born  again  by  the  word  of  God."  The  Apostle 
Paul  says — he  who  wrote  our  text — "So  their 
faith  Cometh  by  hearing  and  hearing  by  the  word 
of  God."  Our  Lord's  Day  of  the  Catechism  has 
caught  the  spirit  of  the  Scriptures,  and  tells 
us  the  Holy  Ghost  worketh  faith  by  the  use  of 
means,  the  preaching  of  the  Word,  and  the  use 
of  the   Sacraments. 

With  reference  to  the  Church,  there  are  evi- 
dently but  two  classes.  Members,  grouped  to- 
gether by  faith  in  Christ — and  not  members. 
We  can  hardly  say  that  those  not  members  have 
no  faith  in  Christ.  There  are  many,  doubtless, 
who  are  careless  and  indifferent  to  the  claims  of 
Christ.  Still,  even  these  know  of  Christ  and  so 
have  that  element  of  faith — belief  on  sufficient 
evidence.  Surely  you  should  not  be  indifferent 
to  the  claims  of  Christ  upon  you.  His  great 
interest  in  you  should  show  you  the  importance 
of  learning  more  of  Him — by  trusting  Him — of 
living  in  and  for  Him.     If  you  do  not  give  Him 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM      129 

your  heart  and  life,  you  withhold  from  Him 
His  due;  and  you  can  never  be  right  while  you 
are  doing  Him  so  great  a  wrong. 

Others  have  faith  in  Christ,  they  think  and 
claim,  but  do  not  unite  with  His  Church  for 
various  reasons,  as,  they  are  not  worthy,  they 
are  not  clear  on  various  points  of  doctrine.  They 
are  better  now  than  many  church  members,  and 
a  host  of  other  reasons.  Granting  that  you  have 
faith  in  Christ,  is  your  course  right?  Christ 
has  founded  His  Church  and  given  it  a  great 
work  to  do  in  this  world.  The  Church  is  distinct 
from  the  world  by  organization  and  ordinance— 
and  as  such  has  a  large  and  beneficient  work  to 
do  in  the  world,  to  represent  and  preach  the 
Word  and  Life  of  the  Savior  to  the  race  of  man- 
kind. Now,  if  all  should  follow  your  example 
and  influence,  the  church  would  cease,  would 
come  to  an  end  in  the  world.  Christ's  plan  of 
saving  the  world  would  fail.     You  may  say,  my 

life  is  small — but  it  is  large  enough  for  that 

it  sets  that  example— it  puts  forth  that  influence. 
It  is  well  to  be  humble,  but  we  are  carrying  our 
humility  too  far  when  we  make  it  an  excuse  for 
not  obeying  Christ. 

The  class  of  church  members  should  recall 
that  like  the  Ephesians,  they  are  by  God's  grace 
of  the  household  of  God— having  duties  and 
privileges  high  and  glorious.  Of  these  the  follow- 
ing Lord's  Days  of  our  Catechism  more  fully 
treat. 


X. 


TWENTY-FIFTH,  TWENTY-SIXTH  AND 

TWENTY-SEVENTH  LORD'S  DAYS  OF 

THE   HEIDELBERG   CATECHISM 


"SACRAMENT  OF  BAPTISM" 

Go  ye  therefore  and  make  disciples  of 
all  the  nations  baptizing  them  into  the 
name  of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son  and  of 
the  Holy  Ghost.— Matt.  28:19. 

IT  is  said  of  John  the  Baptist,  the  herald  of 
the  King,  that  he  preached  "The  Kingdom 
of  Heaven  is  at  hand"  and  "Baptized  in  the 
wilderness." 

Christ  himself  was  baptized  by  John  in  the 
Jordan  when  the  Holy  Spirit  descended  upon 
Him  as  a  dove,  and  a  voice  out  of  the  Heaven 
said:  "This  is  my  beloved  Son  in  whom  I  am 
well  pleased," 

During  the  ministry  of  Christ  the  disciples  of 
Christ  baptized  large  numbers  of  those  who  be- 
lieved on  him. 

Our  text  gives  the  last  command  of  Christ  to 
His  disciples  as  He  was  about  to  ascend  to  heaven. 
They  were  to  make  disciples  of  all  the  nations — 
were  to  baptize  all  such  disciples,  were  to  teach 
them  to  follow  Christ  by  obeying  his  commands 
— and  in  so  doing  they  had  His  promise  that  He 
would  be  with  them  through  all  ages  to  the  end 
of  the  world. 

130 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM      131 

The  history  of  the  Christian  Church  in  the 
early  days  after  the  ascension  of  Christ,  is  de- 
scribed in  the  book  of  the  Acts— on  the  day  of 
Pentacost  Peter  declares  to  all  the  people  that 
the  Jesus  they  had  crucified  was  the  Christ  Who 
had  been  exhalted,  had  received  of  the  Father 
the  promise  of  the  Holy  Spirit  and  "He  had 
poured  forth  that  which  ye  see  and  hear." 
Many  receive  this  word,  about  3,000  souls— and 
they  were  baptized.  In  the  following  statements 
of  the  book  of  the  Acts  frequent  mention  is  made 

of  baptism.     Men  and  women  were  baptized 

households  were  baptized— "he  and  all  his 
were  baptized"— the  early  disciples  evidently 
obeyed  the  last  command  of  their  Lord.  From 
that  day  to  this  through  the  long  ages  and  the 
varied  experiences  and  the  many  races  of  man- 
kind the  simple  ceremony  of  baptism  has  been 
and  now  is  the  rite  of  initiation  of  the  Christian 
Church. 

It  varies  in  the  mode  of  administration.  In 
the  wonderful  Baptistry  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  in  Florence  it  is  by  pouring.  In  the 
Churches  of  the  Baptists  in  our  and  in  other 
lands  it  is  by  immersion.  In  our  own  church, 
as  in  most  Protestant  Churches  it  is  by  sprink- 
ling. In  some  places  all  three  methods  are  em- 
ployed at  the  same  time.  A  stream  of  water 
deep  enough  is  used — the  one  representing  the 
Church  stands  in  this  river  and  baptizes  those 
coming  down  to  him.  Some  bend  the  head  and 
he  sprinkles  them  from  the  hand  full  of  water 


132      THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

he  takes  from  the  river — others  bend  still  lower 
and  he  pours  the  water  from  a  pitcher  on  their 
heads — still  others  he  immerses  in  the  river — 
very  likely  such  was  the  scene  when  John  the 
Baptist  baptized  in  the  River  Jordan.  In  any 
case  it  is  the  application  of  water  to  the  believer, 
and  he  is  "Baptized  into  the  name  of  the  Father, 
and  of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost" — by  the 
command  of  Christ. 

Our  church  acknowledges  the  validity  of  either 
mode,  pouring,  immersion,  or  sprinkling,  though 
for  sufficient  reasons,  as  we  shall  see,  it  prefers 
the  mode  of  sprinkling. 

Now  should  an  intelligent  observer,  one  who 
had  never  heard  of  Christ  or  of  Christianity, 
witness  for  the  first  time  the  rite  of  Baptism — 
he  would  be  very  apt  to  ask  three  questions — 
how  did  this  practice  begin — what  is  its  history 
— who  are  these  who  are  baptized — what  peculiar 
society  do  they  form,  and  what  does  it  mean  to 
them,  and  to  all  others,  and  to  me? 

We  who  are  so  familiar  with  the  custom  will 
do  well  to  ask  the  same  questions. 

What  is  its  history — when  did  it  begin — how 
has  it  continued — how  did  the  variety  of  modes 
arise? 

Records  of  great  events  in  the  olden  times 
were  written  on  stone — as  the  obelisks  of  Egypt 
— or  in  brick  as  the  cuneform.  records  of  Baby- 
lon or  in  written  histories  as  by  Heroditus,  or 
in  their  effect  on  mankind — as  the  battle  of  Issus 
was   followed   by   the   extending   of   the    Greek 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM      133 

Kingdom  and  language  and  influence  in  Asia. 
One  of  the  most  enduring  records  of  a  great 
event,  more  clear  it  may  be  and  even  lasting  than 
that  on  stone,  or  brick,  or  printed  page  or  its 
influence  in  the  history  of  Greece  is  that  found 
in  a  significant  ceremony  observed  by  a  human 
society  whose  existence  is  linked  with  it. 

One  of  the  strong  evidences  that  Christ  lived 
and  taught,  died  on  the  Cross,  arose  from  the 
dead,  ascended  into  heaven,  as  recorded  in  the 
Gospels  is  the  existence  of  the  Christian  Church 
today  and  its  observance  of  this  simple  ceremony 
of  initiation  into  its  membership.  We  go  back 
through  the  ages  until  we  come  to  the  time  when 
Christ  gave  the  command  to  the  disciples  to 
baptize  all  nations. 

We  can  easily  see  how  the  variety  in  mode 
arose  when  we  recognize  the  tendency  of  human 
nature  to  elaborations  of  ceremony  and  to  the 
love  of  mystery.  Pouring  is  more  elaborate 
than  sprinkling — and  associated  with  it  is  hav- 
ing elaborate  baptismal  founts  in  our  Churches, 
found  in  the  early  history  of  the  church  and 
growing  again  in  our  day.  Immersion  arose  in 
later  ages  of  the  church  in  finding  in  the  Greek 
word  we  translate  Baptism,  a  depth  of  meaning 
impossible  to  apply  to  the  ceremony  itself.  The 
word  has  two  forms,  one  means  to  dip,  as  to  dye 
a  garment  in  some  colored  liquid.  The  other 
means  to  immerse,  but  there  is  no  idea  in  it  of 
the  immersed  ever  coming  out  of  the  water. 
It  remains  there.     The  ship  sinks  into  the  sea 


134      THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

and  is  soaked  with  the  water — is  immersed.  This 
deep  and  mystic  meaning  may  apply  to  the 
thing  signified,  but  not  to  the  ceremony  of  bap- 
tism with  water.  The  one  baptized  in  water  is 
neither  dyed  with  water,  nor  does  he  remain 
immersed  in  it. 

The  infinite  wisdom  and  grace  of  our  Lord  and 
Savior  led  Him  to  select  such  a  simple  rite  that 
all  the  love  in  our  nature  of  elaboration  and  of 
mystery,  as  it  finds  its  exercise  in  all  races  and 
through  the  long  ages,  could  not  obscure  nor 
greatly  change  the  simplicity  of  the  ceremony. 

The  second  question  of  the  intelligent  observer 
is  who  are  these  who  are  baptized,  what  society 
do  they  form?  The  command  of  Christ  gives 
the  satisfactory  answer.  Those  who  were  taught 
of  Christ,  who  thus  became  His  disciples,  and 
were  led  thus  to  do  His  commands — those  who 
acknowledged  Him  as  their  Lord  were  to  be 
baptized.  The  three  thousand  who  were  bap- 
tized at  Pentacost  were  added  to  the  Apostles 
and  continued  in  the  teaching  and  fellowship — so 
it  is  said  in  the  narrative  of  the  next  few  days 
that  the  number  of  those  who  hearing  the  word 
believed  came  to  be  about  five  thousand. 

Christ  in  His  earthly  ministry  has  said  that  a 
confession  of  faith  in  Him  as  the  Lord  was  the 
rock  upon  which  He  would  build  His  church. 

In  the  Acts,  which  recounts  the  continued  work 
of  Christ,  the  Holy  Spirit  sent  by  the  ascended 
Christ  blesses  the  proclaiming  of  Christ  as  the 
Lord  by  the  disciples,  in  adding  to  their  number 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM      135 

a  multitude  of  believers,  who  upon  believing  were 
baptized  and  so  became  members  of  the  Church. 

Now  as  we  look  through  the  long  centuries 
back  to  the  time  of  Christ  and  over  the  many- 
races  of  men  dwelling  in  the  many  lands  and 
climes,  many  people  of  varied  gifts  and  stages 
of  development  we  are  amazed  at  the  simplicity 
of  the  rite  of  initiation  into  the  Christian  Church. 
There  is  the  entire  absence  of  the  occult — it  re- 
quires no  long  instruction  into  many  mysterious 
features — there  is  nothing  difficult  in  it.  It  re- 
quires no  hard  training,  nor  strong  effort, — there 
is  nothing  costly  in  it.  It  requires  no  accumula- 
tion of  wealth,  it  is  for  the  poor,  the  weak,  the 
ignorant,  as  well  as  for  the  rich,  the  strong  and 
the  learned.  Is  it  not  like  the  Christ?  He 
would  shut  no  believer  out  of  His  Church.  He 
is  infinitely  gracious  to  all.  And  still  it  is  like 
the  great  teacher  Himself — He  makes  plain  the 
most  important  truths — it  is  vastly  significant, 
the  simple  rite  of  baptism. 

The  baptism  of  infant  children  is  also  in 
harmony  with  Christ's  teaching.  "Suffer  the  little 
children  to  come  unto  me  and  forbid  them  not, 
for  to  such  belongeth  the  Kingdom  of  heaven" 
— it  is  in  harmony  with  the  promises  of  the  Old 
Testament  to  the  people,  "To  you  and  to  your 
seed  after  you" — and  it  is  in  harmony  with  the 
practice  of  the  early  church  in  the  baptism  of 
households. 

We  now  turn  to  a  third  earnest  question — what 
does  baptism  mean  to  those  baptized,  and  to  all 


136      THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

others?  Our  Catechism  in  the  former  Lord's 
Day  gives  the  answer — "The  Holy  Ghost  works 
faith  in  our  hearts  by  the  preaching  of  the 
Gospel  and  confirms  it  by  the  use  of  the  Sacra- 
ments," and  further,  "The  Sacraments  are  visible 
signs  and  seals  appointed  by  God  to  declare  and 
seal  to  us  the  promise  of  the  Gospel."  The 
command  of  Christ  makes  baptism  follow  faith; 
the  preaching  awakens  faith  in  Christ,  baptism 
signifies  and  confirms  the  faith.  Water  is  used 
for  reviving — particularly  for  cleansing — water 
withheld,  the  earth  grows  dusty,  parched  and 
dead.  Water  given,  the  desert  blooms  with 
flowers  and  fruit.  Water  withheld,  man  becomes 
soiled  and  parched — water  applied,  he  becomes 
fresh  and  clean.  The  application  of  water  to 
the  head  of  disciples,  the  sprinkling  with  water 
in  the  name  of  the  Father,  the  Son  and  the  Holy 
Ghost  signifies  that  the  God  we  worship  renews 
and  cleanses  us  from  sin,  the  sin  that  defiles  and 
deadens.  The  command  of  Christ,  the  Great  Head 
of  the  Church  to  baptize  the  disciples  into  the 
church  membership  makes  the  rite  not  only 
significant  but  is  given  to  us  as  a  seal  of  His 
promise  to  confirm  our  faith.  We  use  a  seal 
to  authenticate  a  deliberate  act  or  promise.  So 
Christ  promises  to  save  the  one  believing  in  Him 
and  adds  the  baptism  as  a  seal  of  His  promise. 
So  the  Apostle  Paul  in  describing  his  own  conver- 
sion from  unbelief  in  Christ  to  believing  in  Him 
as  his  Lord,  says  that  Ananias  representing  the 
Church  exhorted  him  "To  be  baptized  and  wash 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM      137 

away  his  sins  calling  on  the  name  of  Christ." 
We  see  therefore  that  baptism  welcomes  one 
into  the  society  of  believers,  the  Church;  that  it 
signifies  what  Christ  does  to  the  believer,  cleanses 
and  renews  him;  and  that  it  is  graciously  given 
to  the  believer  to  quicken  his  faith — it  is  the 
seal  of  Christ's  promise  to  save  him  from  sin. 

While  the  significant  rite  of  entering  into  the 
church  coming  from  Christ  Himself  is  to  be 
greatly  valued  by  us  we  are  to  be  careful  not. to 
allow  our  inherent  love  of  mystery  to  attribute 
such  meaning  to  it  as  to  obscure  rather  than  to 
reveal  Christ,  and  there  is  great  danger  of  this 
as  the  history  of  the  church  clearly  proves. 
There  is  no  such  thing  as  baptismal  regenera- 
tion. Baptism  does  not  regenerate  but  signifies 
that  Christ  regenerates.  It  is  obvious  that 
baptism  itself  does  not  save — Christ  saves. 
Baptism  does  not  wash  away  sins — Christ 
cleanses — baptism  does  not  renew  the  soul — 
Christ  renews — so  membership  in  the  church 
does  not  save — the  church  does  not  save, — Christ 
saves.  Having  been  baptized  in  infancy  does 
not  save  the  adult,  it  should  lead  such  to  a 
personal  faith  in  Christ  the  Savior.  Neither  does 
baptism  save  the  child  dying  in  infancy.  We 
have  abundant  reason  for  believing  that  all 
children  dying  in  infancy  are  saved  by  the 
atoning  death  of  Christ,  as  Christ  says,  "To  such 
belongeth  the  kingdom  of  heaven" — Christ  wel- 
comes them  to  His  blood  bought  salvation. 


138      THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

It  certainly  is  a  sad  mistake  for  anyone  to 
think  that  he  can  be  saved  by  any  formal  act, 
by  being  baptized — by  becoming  a  member  of 
the  church — salvation  can  only  be  by  becoming 
by  faith  a  member  of  Christ. 

By  the  very  simplicity  of  the  rite  Christ  warns 
us  against  bringing  into  it  our  own  wild  fancies 
and  false  hopes — we  are  to  see  Him  in  His 
gracious  work  and  plain  teaching — we  are  to 
look  through  it  to  Christ  alone. 

On  the  other  hand  we  are  not  to  be  content 
with  simply  believing  in  Christ  without  being 
baptized.  We  may  think  we  have  some  reasons 
for  this,  and  for  not  uniting  with  Christ's 
Church,  but  we  should  question  every  reason 
which  leads  one  to  disobey  the  clear  command  of 
the  Christ  he  believes  in,  of  the  Savior  he  trusts. 

He  has  commanded  us  to  confess  Him  before 
men.  The  life  is  the  true  confession  of  course, 
but  here  is  a  significant  act  for  such  confession 
which  Christ  Himself  has  selected  and  com- 
manded; here  is  also  the  church  to  whom  He 
has  given  the  proclamation  of  His  truth  to  the 
world  by  word  and  life.  We  should  observe  the 
act,  should  unite  with  His  church. 

Through  all  the  ages  this  rite,  and  the  entrance 
to  His  church  have  existed.  They  exist  today  for 
His  gracious  purpose.  We  are  to  use  them  now 
and  to  hand  them  down  to  the  coming  time  by 
His  direction. 

These  then  are  the  meanings  of  baptism  to 
those  who  are  baptized,  and  to  all  others. 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM      139 

One  enters  His  church  by  Christ's  appointed 
way  as  a  believer  in  Him,  thus  confessing  Him 
before  men  as  his  Lord  and  allying  himself  with 
His  followers.  One  thereby  not  only  confesses 
his  faith  and  thus  honors  his  Lord  and  Savior 
but  also  strengthens  his  faith  as  he  recognizes 
the  significance  of  the  rite  in  Christ's  teaching — 
and  receives  it  as  Christ's  own  seal  to  His  promise. 
It  becomes  of  vast  meaning  to  him  in  strengthen- 
ing his  faith. 

Those  who  witness  the  rite  but  do  not  them- 
selves believe  in  Christ  are  taught  and  should  be 
deeply  impressed — that  Christ  washes  away  sins 
and  renews  the  soul. 

This  simple  and  clear  teaching  of  the  Great 
Teacher  and  wondrous  Savior  should  lead  them 
to  see  their  need  of  Him  and  to  trust  in  Him 
as  their  own  personal  Savior. 


XL 

TWENTY-EIGHTH,  TWENTY-NINTH  AND 

THIRTIETH  LORD'S  DAYS  OF  THE 

HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 


"SACRAMENT  OF  THE  LORD'S  SUPPER" 
And  he  took  bread  and  when  he  had 
given  thanks  he  broke  it  and  gave  it  to 
them  saying  this  is  my  body  which  is 
given  for  you;  this  do  in  remembrance  of 
me — And  the  cup  in  like  manner  after 
supper  saying,  This  cup  is  the  new  cove- 
nant in  my  blood  which  is  poured  out  for 
Tjou.—LvKE  22:19-20. 

IN  certain  portions  of  Africa  and  South 
America  a  white  stone  is  found  which  is 
beautiful  even  in  its  rough  state.  But  the 
whiteness  is  an  accumulation  of  the  dust  of  ages. 
When  this  dull  outside  covering  has  been  taken 
off,  when  diamond  has  cut  diamond  into  many 
bright  sufaces,  then  the  stone  flashes  with  light 
as  a  spark  of  the  sun  and  readily  takes  rank  as 
the  most  precious  of  gems.  So  in  order  to  dis- 
cern the  clear  meaning  of  the  Lord's  Supper  we 
must  carefully  cut  off  the  errors  and  supersti- 
tions of  the  elaborate  ceremonies  which  have 
accumulated  upon  it  as  it  has  come  down  to  us 
through  the  ages  until  we  have  nothing  left  but 
the  simple  ceremony  instituted  by  Christ  Himself, 
a  gem  of  purest  ray  serene,  flashing  its  bright 
light  upon  our  believing  souls. 

140 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM      141 

The  tendency  in  human  nature  to  elaborate  the 
ceremonies  of  religion  and  to  associate  mysterious 
power  with  them  could  find  but  little  scope  for 
its  exercise  in  baptism  as  we  have  already  con- 
sidered— it  was  a  rite  of  initiation,  the  one  thing 
being  the  application  of  water  to  the  one  enter- 
ing the  Christian  Church  to  be  but  once  applied 
and  only  to  a  single  or  to  only  a  few  individuals 
at  one  time.  But  the  Lord's  Supper  was  to  be 
frequently  observed  by  all  members  of  the  Chris- 
tian Church  as  a  society,  an  act  of  worship  more 
elaborate  in  itself  and  of  great  significancy  in 
its  frequency  and  general  observance. 

The  growth  of  ceremony  probably  began  very 
early  in  the  history  of  the  Christian  Church  and 
we  can  easily  account  for  it.  The  simple  religion 
of  Jesus  Christ  was  planted  in  the  midst  of  the 
splendid  and  magnificent  ceremonials  of  the 
Jewish  religion  in  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem,  and 
spreading  thence  to  the  great  pagan  cities  of 
Egypt,  Greece  and  Rome  it  met  everywhere  the 
elaborate  and  mysterious  ceremonies  of  the  great 
heathen  Temples.  Worshippers  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  largely  came  out  from  these  re- 
ligions— they  brought  with  them  of  course  the 
educated  taste  received  from  such  elaborate  cere- 
monies and  desiring  to  win  others  from  these 
religions  as  well  as  satisfy  their  own  tastes  they 
would  quite  naturally  begin  to  make  the  religion 
of  Christ  more  attractive  in  ceremonial.  In  so 
doing  from  such  good  motives  they  would  not 
intend  to  in  any  way  change  the  religion  they 


142      THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

confessed,  and  still  ^s  ceremonies  have  their  deep 
meaning  as  the  elaboration  grew  the  change  in 
beliefs  would  naturally  follow.  The  simplicity  of 
the  ceremony  as  Christ  instituted  it,  as  it  came 
from  the  Great  Teacher,  taught  simple  truths — 
elaboration  would  do  away  with  the  simplicity 
both  of  the  ceremony  and  its  teaching. 

The  Roman  Catholic  Church  today-^as  when 
our  fathers  came  out  from  it  and  our  Heidelberg 
Catechism  was  made,  holds  views  of  the  Sacra- 
ment widely  different  from  ours  and  makes  it 
the  centre  of  their  elaborate  worship.  It  is  no 
stretch  of  Christian  charity  for  us  to  believe 
that  in  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  there  are 
many  true  disciples  of  Christ  who  have  an 
humble  faith  in  Him  alone  for  their  salvation, 
who  sincerely  obey  His  precepts  and  live  their 
lives  in  His  spirit  and  after  His  example.  As 
we  examine  the  errors  of  that  Church  with 
regard  to  the  Lord's  Supper,  we  should  avoid 
any  harsh,  unchristian  spirit  and  simply  try  to 
keep  our  faith  free  from  them,  and  to  bring 
others  out  from  such  errors  as  we  have  an  oppor- 
tunity. I  think  I  state  the  matter  fairly — at 
least,  I  mean  to,  from  all  the  information  I  can 
gather. 

The  Roman  Catholic  Church  holds  that  the 
bread  and  wine  used  in  the  Lord's  Supper  are 
changed  in  the  act  of  consecration  by  the  al- 
mighty power  of  God  into  the  body  and  blood  of 
Christ  and  as  the  divinity  of  Christ  is  insepara- 
bly  connected   with   the   body  and   blood,    they 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM      143 

believe  the  whole  Christ  is  present  in  each  parti- 
cle of  the  consecrated  bread  and  wine. 

The  elements  are  therefore  no  longer  bread 
and  wine  but  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  they 
have  become  Christ  Himself — the  sacrifice — the 
host.  The  elaborate  ceremonies  of  the  church 
therefore  have  this  as  the  centre. 

The  host  is  worshipped.  The  most  impressive 
scene  in  the  worship  of  that  church  is  near  the 
close  of  the  service  when  the  priest  takes  from 
the  Tabernacle  the  consecrated  host  and  turning 
slowly  lifts  it  over  the  congregation ;  a  little  bell 
gives  warning,  and  the  whole  congregation  bend 
the  head  in  worship,  the  host  is  too  holy  to  be 
looked  upon — again  the  bell  rings,  the  host  is 
replaced  by  the  priest  in  the  Tabernacle  of  the 
Altar. 

Those  who  have  witnessed  the  elevation  of  the 
host  must  be  impressed  by  the  evident  devotion 
of  both  priests  and  people.  Longfellow  in  the 
Golden  Legend  says: 

"Melodious  bells  among  the  spires 

"O'er  all  the  house  tops,  and  through  heaven 
above 

"Proclaim  the  elevation  of  the  Host." 

The  host  is  offered  in  sacrifice  for  sin.  The 
Sacrifice  of  the  Mass  is  the  same  as  the  sacrifice 
of  Christ  upon  the  Cross,  is  its  constant  repeti- 
tion. As  the  sacrifice  is  the  same  so  also  is  the 
Priest.  Christ  offers  Himself.  The  officiating 
priest  is  carefully  instructed  not  to  say  this  is 
the  body  of  Christ,  but  "This  is  my  body."    This 


144      THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

sacrifice  is  offered  not  only  for  the  sins  of  all 
the  people,  but  for  individual  sins  and  for  sins 
after  death  as  well. 

In  order  to  partake  of  this  sacrifice  therefore 
there  must  be  individual  confession  of  sins  to 
the  priest,  penance  directed  by  him  and  absolu- 
tion given  by  him;  these  are  necessary  prepara- 
tions for  partaking  of  the  Lord's  Supper. 

In  partaking  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  one  par- 
takes of  Christ  Himself.  The  consecrated  wafer 
is  given  by  the  priest  to  the  communicant — but 
not  the  blood  of  Christ  since  there  is  the  danger 
of  a  drop  falling  on  the  ground  which  would  be 
desecration.  But  the  belief  is  that  each  one 
partaking  of  the  Supper  partakes  in  that  act  of 
Christ  Himself  and  therefore  that  the  consecrated 
wafer  conveys  the  inherent  strength  of  Christ 
Himself  to  the  communicant.  Also  it  follows  that 
if  one  does  not  partake  of  the  wafer  he  has  no 
part  in  Christ. 

If  the  claim  is  made  that  the  change  of  the 
bread  and  wine  into  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ 
is  the  miracle  worked  by  God  to  authenticate  His 
Son  and  His  Church  v/e  can  only  say  that  it  is 
contrary  to  all  the  nature  of  miracles  in  the 
Scriptures.  They  appeal  to  the  senses  as 
beyond  the  ordinary  laws  and  forces  of  nature; 
this  is  contradicted  by  the  senses.  The  form, 
color,  taste,  properties  of  the  bread  and  wine  re- 
main, these  cannot  belong  to  the  body  and  blood 
of  Christ,  they  must  therefore  exist  without  be- 
longing to  any  substance — a  test  of  faith  con- 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM      145 

trary  to  all  the  tests  of  Scripture  or  experience. 

But  if  the  bread  and  wine  still  remain  such 
then  to  worship  them  borders  on  idolatry  and 
their  sacrifice  is  derogatory  to  the  sacrifice  of 
Christ. 

We  think  of  Christ  as  saying  this  bread 
broken  by  me  represents  my  body  soon  to  be 
broken  on  the  Cross  for  you;  this  wine  poured 
out  by  me  represents  my  blood  soon  to  be  poured 
out  on  the  cross  for  the  remission  of  your  sins. 

But  though  we  Protestants  thus  cast  aside  the 
elaborate  addition  of  ceremony  and  errors  found 
in  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  and  strive  to  go 
back  to  the  simplicity  of  the  Lord's  Supper  as 
instituted  by  our  Lord,  there  is  grave  danger 
we  may  unintentionally  and  unconsciously  have 
our  views  tinged  by  their's  to  some  extent.  This 
is  quite  natural,  almost  inevitable,  when  we  con- 
sider that  our  fathers  were  Romanists  and  broke 
away  from  their  life  long  association  and  culti- 
vated taste  and  views,  and  that  we  live  today 
side  by  side  with  that  church,  and  more  and 
more  recognize  the  greatness  of  her  history  and 
her  life  and  her  work  in  the  world. 

One  such  danger  is  to  regard  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per as  a  great  mystery — this  is  a  shadow  of 
transubstantiation.  Rather  it  is  a  simple  rite  to 
;nake  plain  a  great  truth  of  our  religion,  the 
bread  broken,  the  wine  poured  out  to  show  that 
Christ  died  for  us — our  eating  and  drinking  to 
show  our  trust  in  him. 

The  truth  is  stupendous — but  the  sign  is  so 


146      THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

simple  in  order  to  help  the  most  learned  and 
the  most  ignorant  believer  to  grasp  that  truth. 

Another  danger  we  are  to  guard  against  is 
that  the  Lord's  Supper  is  a  peculiar  channel 
of  grace,  that  Christ  is  specially  present  in  His 
supper  in  what  is  called  the  Real  presence  of 
the  Ritualists;  this  is  more  even  than  a  shadow 
of  Roman  transubstantiation — it  may  be  called 
consubstantiation.  Christ  is  indeed  present  in 
His  Supper  but  only  in  the  same  sense  He  is 
present  in  the  Scriptures,  in  the  word  He 
preached;  in  fact  the  Lord's  Supper  is  His  own 
preaching  of  the  word — making  plain  and  show- 
ing forth  His  own  teaching  of  the  meaning  of 
His  death  to  quicken  our  faith. 

A  third  danger  arising  from  these  two  is  to 
regard  the  Lord's  Supper  as  requiring  great 
holiness  to  partake  of  it.  This  too  is  a  shadow 
of  transubstantiation  which  requires  freedom 
from  sin,  the  confession  to  the  priest  and  his 
absolution  to  become  a  communicant. 

But  our  form  for  the  administration  of  the 
Lord's  Supper  says:  "We  do  not  come  to  this 
supper  to  testify  that  we  are  perfect  and  right- 
eous in  ourselves ;  but  on  the  contrary  consider- 
ing that  we  seek  our  life  out  of  ourselves  in 
Jesus  Christ  we  acknowledge  that  we  lie  in  the 
midst  of  death." 

It  is  indeed  a  rite  of  awe  inspiring  solemnity 
and  requires  due  preparation  on  the  part  of  the 
communicant — but  the  preparation  is  a  sense  of 
our  sinfulness  and  of  our  faith  in  our  Savior. 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM      147 

The  Apostle  Paul's  exhortation  to  examine  our- 
selves lest  we  eat  and  drink  condemnation  to 
ourselves  guards  against  making  it  a  feast  of 
self  indulgence. 

It  seems  that  in  the  church  at  Corinth  each 
family  brought  its  own  provisions,  the  rich 
feasted  on  more  than  the  poor  could  bring, 
hence  division  rather  than  communion,  hence 
also  the  danger  of  over  gratification  of  appetite 
— the  tendency  to  diversion  and  drunkenness — 
to  profane  the  supper  and  the  Lord  of  the  supper 
before  the  heathen  was  the  danger  Paul  warned 
against. 

Now  we  go  back  through  the  ages  to  the  night 
of  the  betrayal  and  denial  and  desertion — when 
Christ  went  alone  to  the  cross,  when  they  had 
not  learned  fully  the  teaching  of  His  death — they 
have  kept  the  passover,  the  old  testament  sacra- 
ment now  fulfilled  in  Christ.  And  now  He  breaks 
the  bread  and  pours  the  wine  and  gives  to  His 
disciples  and  they  eat  and  drink  with  Him,  and 
He  institutes  the  Lord's  Supper  for  all  future 
ages.  We  see  at  once  it  is  a  communion — the 
intimate  fellowship  of  the  Supper.  Christ  is 
their  acknowledged  Lord.  They  have  various 
degrees  of  knowledge  of  Him — of  faith  in  Him 
and  of  character  resembling  Him;  but  they  are 
equals  among  themselves  in  that  they  are  be- 
lievers in  Him — they  commune  with  Him. 

His  acts  and  words  teach  the  disciples  the 
meaning  of  His  coming  death.  He  could  have 
avoided  the  cross,  ascending  with  the  "Twelve 


148      THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

Legions  of  Angels."  He  could  have  overthrown 
the  power  of  Rome  as  easily  as  the  soldiers 
were  thrown  to  the  ground  when  He  said  "I  am" 
in  the  garden.  But  He  taught  them  that  He  died 
for  them — that  He  gave  up  His  own  life  upon 
the  cross  for  them.  This  broken  bread  repre- 
sents my  body  which  is  given  to  you — so  I  break 
it,  and  give  it  to  you — so  I  give  my  life  for  you 
as  He  gave  the  cup,  "It  is  the  New  Testament  in 
my  blood  which  is  poured  out  for  you" — "For 
the  remission  of  sins."  All  of  you  drink  of  it — 
and  they  all  drank  of  it.  You  do  not  fully 
understand  my  mission,  my  death  but  I  show 
you  now — that  I  die  for  you — this  is  a  sign  to 
you — and  this  is  my  pledge  to  you. 

We  see  at  once  the  gracious  tenderness  of 
Christ  in  giving  to  His  ignorant  and  weak  dis- 
ciples in  the  hour  of  their  need  such  a  clear 
and  simple  teaching  of  the  meaning  of  His  death 
and  such  a  plain  and  strong  pledge  to  confirm 
their  faith  that  He  died  for  them — and  so  would 
secure  the  remission  of  their  sins  and  would 
sustain  and  cheer  their  life  in  Him.  There  is 
nothing  to  repel  the  weak  faith,  its  whole  design 
is  to  feed  and  strengthen  the  weak  faith.  This 
is  no  mystery,  its  whole  design  is  to  explain  the 
mystery  of  His  death.  This  gracious  tenderness 
of  Christ  comes  down  to  us  in  our  need — a  sign 
and  seal  of  His  dying  for  us  and  giving  His  life 
to  us.  There  is  the  utmost  graciousness  there- 
fore in  the  command  of  Christ,  to  those  disciples 
and  through  them  to  the  disciples  of  all  succeed- 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM      149 

ing  ages.  "This  do  in  remembrance  of  me."  He 
shows  them  they  have  a  duty  to  Him  as  well  as 
a  great  privilege  in  communing  with  Him.  Re- 
member me — I  have  taught  you  the  way  of 
holiness.  Remember  me — I  have  died  for  you. 
Remember  me — I  live  for  you  and  in  you.  This 
is  the  clear  teaching  and  the  loving  appeal  of 
the  Supper — soundness  of  faith  must  result — 
the  central  truth  of  Christ's  atoning  death  is 
clearly  and  constantly  to  be  kept  in  mind.  Fervor 
of  heart  must  result  as  we  think  of  His  wonderful 
love  in  dying  for  us — in  securing  freedom  from 
the  penalties  and  pollution  of  sin  for  us,  by  His 
loving  self  sacrifice.  Holiness  of  life  must  result 
as  we  recognize  that  we  no  longer  should  live 
to  ourselves,  but  to  Him  who  died  for  us  and 
rose  again  who  is  our  ever  living  Lord  and 
Savior.  In  describing  the  institution  of  the 
Lord's  Supper,  the  Apostle  Paul  adds  as  is 
clearly  intended  in  this  remembrance  of  Christ, 
"that  as  often  as  we  thus  eat  this  bread  and 
drink  this  cup  we  proclaim  the  Lord's  death  till 
He  come."  Thus  each  member  of  Christ's  church 
— and  the  whole  church  throughout  the  ages 
preaches  and  proclaims  to  all  the  world  the  death 
of  Christ  for  the  sins  of  the  world — and  thus 
calls  upon  all  to  believe  in  Him  for  salvation. 
This  is  to  continue  until  Christ  comes  again — the 
hope  held  before  each  believer — before  the  whole 
church — before  the  whole  world — that  He  who  so 
loved  us  that  He  died  for  us — who  lives  now  in 
believing  souls,  and  who  yearns  over  all  souls 
to  save  them,  that  He  will  come  again. 


150      THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

Thus  the  Supper  becomes  a  divinely  appointed 
way  of  confessing  Christ  before  the  world,  of 
preaching  Him  to  the  world  and  thus  of  con- 
firming our  faith  and  quickening  our  love  and 
devotion  for  Him.  The  two  must  ever  be  united 
as  clearly  intended  by  Christ. 

The  Lord's  Supper  has  not  mystic  power ;  it  in 
no  sense  saves  from  sin,  but  it  constantly  directs 
the  attention  of  the  believer  and  of  the  world 
to  the  central  vital  truth  of  Christianity  that 
Christ  died  for  sinners. 

Examine  ourselves  in  the  light  of  this  truth, 
in  our  personal  relation  to  this  Christ.  Christ 
went  from  the  Supper  to  the  Cross.  He  died  for 
our  sins — to  the  resurrection — He  rose  for  our 
justification — to  the  throne  on  high — He  lives  in 
us  by  His  spirit;  He  will  come  again  to  complete 
His  blood  bought  salvation.  We  need  Him.  Let 
us  trust  Him.  He  commands  us  to  confess  Him. 
Let  us  obey  Him.  He  promises  to  save  us.  Let 
us  take  the  seal  of  His  promise  as  given  to  us 
by  Him.  He  calls  us  to  proclaim  His  death  till 
He  comes.  Let  us  with  ever  quickened  faith, 
with  ever  increasing  love,  with  ever  growing 
likeness  to  Him  as  fostered  by  our  frequent 
observing  His  Supper  in  remembrance  of  Him, 
commend  Him  to  the  world  as  our  Lord  and  our 
Redeemer.  We  trust  in  the  person  Jesus  Christ 
— love  Him — serve  Him — preach  Him  to  the 
world  in  observing  the  Supper  He  instituted  in 
remembrance  of  Him. 


XII. 

THIRTY-FIRST  LORD'S  DAY  OF  THE 
HEIDELBERG   CATECHISM 


"ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  CHURCH" 

And  I  will  give  unto  thee  the  keys  of 
the  Kingdom  of  Heaven:  and  whatsoever 
thou  shalt  bind  on  earth  shall  be  bound 
in  heaven;  and  whatsoever  thou  shalt  loose 
on  earth  shall  be  loosed  in  heaven. 

—Matt.  16:19. 

GIBBON,  in  his  history  of  Rome,  alleges 
there  were  five  causes  for  the  early  and 
extensive  spread  of  Christianity  in  the 
Roman  Empire.  First,  the  zeal  of  the  disciples 
of  Christ.  Second,  the  belief  in  the  rewards  of 
a  future  life.  Third,  their  claiming  the  power 
to  cure  diseases.  Fourth,  their  pure,  even 
austere  morals;  and  fifth,  their  churches  were 
republics  in  which  equality,  brotherly  love  and 
pure  discipline  prevailed. 

There  had  been  so-called  republics  in  early 
Greece  and  Rome,  but  in  both  cases  it  v/as  only 
of  free  citizens,  and  often  these  were  a  very 
small  proportion  of  the  population.  In  Greece, 
at  one  time,  it  is  alleged  that  four-fifths  of  the 
people  were  slaves;  and  Gibbon  says  that  at 
least  one-half  of  the  population  of  the  Roman 
Empire  were  slaves.  These,  and  the  multitude 
of  citizens  of  conquered  lands,  and  with  them  a 
multitude  of  the  poor  were  excluded  from  all 
power  in  the  government.     Even  early  republics 

151 


152      THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

were  autocracies  and  in  the  time  of  Christ,  the 
government  of  the  empire  was  in  the  hands  of 
a  very  few  autocrats — the  mass  of  the  people 
were  not  even  citizens  of  Rome — they  were  the 
ignoble,  the  poor,  the  slaves,  and  the  subject 
people  of  conquered  nations. 

When  a  church  was  established  in  any  city  of 
the  great  empire  by  the  preaching  of  the  gospel, 
the  admission  to  the  church  and  the  government 
of  the  church  were  placed  in  its  own  hands  by 
the  words  of  Christ  in  our  text — under  the 
questioning  of  Christ,  Peter  speaking  for  the 
disciples,  had  just  confessed  their  belief  that 
Jesus  was  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God.  Christ 
then  said  to  him,  upon  this  confession  of  faith, 
upon  this  rock,  I  will  build  my  church.  And  unto 
thee,  thus  voicing  the  faith  and  so  representing 
the  disciples — that  is,  unto  my  church  I  give  the 
keys  of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven,  that  is  the 
power  of  admission  and  exclusion  to  its  own 
membership. 

The  preaching  of  the  gospel  by  an  apostle  in 
any  city  of  the  empire  or  the  preaching  of 
travelers,  gathered  a  few  disciples  of  Christ — 
these  confessed  their  faith  in  him  to  each  other 
and  before  men,  and  so  the  nucleus  of  the  church 
was  formed.  The  sole  ground  of  admission  was 
the  confession  of  faith — the  applicant  might  be 
a  nobleman,  even  a  member  of  Caesar's  house- 
hold— or  a  rich  business  man  of  the  city — or  the 
poor  citizen — or  the  slave — all  were  admitted 
as  equals  solely  upon  confession  of  faith. 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM      153 

Now  as  we  watch  the  growth  of  the  church 
as  recorded  in  the  Acts,  we  see  a  church  becom- 
ing so  large  in  numbers  that  it  needed  organiza- 
tion— such  a  church  elected  from  its  own  mem- 
bers. Deacons,  whose  ministry  of  alms  was 
needed,  and  further  on  the  Apostles  appointed 
Elders  elected  by  the  people  in  each  separate 
church.  Some  of  these  elected  ruling  Elders  were 
preaching  Elders  as  well.  And  in  bidding  fare- 
well to  the  church  at  Ephesus,  the  Apostle  Paul 
calls  upon  these  Elders  to  watch  over  the  flock 
as  the  Holy  Ghost  had  made  them  Bishops  to 
feed  the  Church  of  God. 

Thus  in  the  prevailing,  autocratic,  civil  govern- 
ment there  was  established  a  society  having  for 
the  admission  and  government  of  its  member- 
ship, the  equality,  brotherly  love  and  self-control 
of  a  religious  republic.  We  can  easily  see,  with 
Gibbon,  the  great  historian,  that  this  would  be 
an  element  greatly  fostering  the  spread  of  Chris- 
tianity. 

In  this  day  of  great  conflict  between  autocracy 
and  democracy  among  the  nations  of  the  earth, 
when  our  own  great  republic  has  entered  the  con- 
flict that  democracy  may  have  freedom  of  de- 
velopment in  the  world,  it  is  well  for  us  to 
recognize  that  the  government  Christ  established 
in  His  church  was  a  republic.  God's  plans  do 
not  change.  This  had  been  God's  plan  for  the 
government  of  His  ancient  people  of  Israel — 
Moses  had  brought  the  people  of  Israel  out  from 
slavery,  under  Pharaoh,  King  of  Egypt,  and  had 


154      THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

formed  a  government  for  them  in  their  new 
land.  This  too,  was  a  republic — the  tribes  were 
to  govern  themselves — ^they  were  to  elect  their 
rulers — "Able  men,  such  as  fear  God,  men  of 
truth,  hating  unjust  gain,  to  be  rulers  of  the 
divisions  of  the  people."  Moses  not  only  de- 
livered from  the  bondage  of  Egypt,  but  provided, 
by  God's  direction,  a  government  opposite  in 
spirit  from  that  of  Egypt:  that  afterwards 
autocracy,  the  grasping  of  power  by  the  ambi- 
tion and  ability  of  a  few  led  to  the  Kingdom, 
was  the  act  of  man — overruled  by  God  at  length 
in  Christ's  government  of  the  spiritual  Kingdom, 
that  of  the  Church. 

That  in  the  government  of  the  church,  the 
ambitions  and  ability  of  a  few  should  within  a 
few  centuries  have  brought  in  the  spirit  of 
autocracy — the  rule  of  a  few  over  God's  people, 
was  the  act  of  man  in  conflict  with  the  design 
of  Christ. 

We  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  America  may 
well  rejoice,  both  for  the  government  of  our 
great  nation  and  for  our  church  that  we  can 
trace  back  through  our  Holland  ancestry  in  the 
Dutch  Republic,  the  teaching  of  Christ  and  the 
New  Testament  Church  these  four  great  princi- 
ples— First,  The  Source  of  Authority,  the  people 
of  the  individual  church.  Second,  the  people 
ruled  by  their  chosen  representatives.  Third, 
individual  churches  combine  with  each  other  by 
their  representatives — so  the  states  in  our  nation, 
so  the  churches  in  our  denomination.     Fourth, 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM      155 

the  band  of  this  combination,  both  in  our  nation 
and  in  our  church  is  a  written  constitution. 

So  the  name  of  our  church  itself  is  not  derived 
from  government  simply  as  is  the  Episcopal,  the 
Presbyterian,  or  the  Congregational  churches; 
or  from  rites  of  worship  as  is  the  Baptist,  or 
from  method  of  life  as  is  the  Methodist,  but  in 
government  worship  and  in  life,  we  go  back  of 
all  the  errors  of  our  Mother  Rome  and  of  all 
the  peculiarities  of  our  Protestant  sister  churches 
and  as  clearly  as  we  can  learn  and  as  earnestly 
as  we  can  strive  we  seek  to  deserve  the  name 
Reformed,  to  be  the  New  Testament  church 
formed  again  in  our  modern  day. 

Now  as  we  ask  our  Heidelberg  Catechism 
what  are  the  Keys  of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  ^-^i 
given  to  the  church  by  the  Lord,  the  answer  is 
clear  and  reasonable,  "The  preaching  of  the 
Holy  Gospel  and  Christian  Discipline."  Without 
the  gospel  there  is  sin  in  our  hearts  and  lives — 
sin  in  the  world  but  no  remedy.  Preaching  the 
gospel  is  the  proclaiming  by  anyone  having  ex- 
perienced it  of  the  God-given  remedy  for  sin. 
The  Apostle  Paul  says,  "We  are  ambassadors  for 
Christ,  as  tho'  God  did  beseech  you  by  us,  we 
pray  you  in  Christ's  stead  be  ye  reconciled  to 
God."  Herein  is  the  open  door — the  key  that 
unlocks  and  welcomes  into  the  church — the  be- 
liever confesses  his  faith  in  Christ.  The  church 
is  thus  the  society  of  believers  as  Christ  taught 
when  his  disciples  confessed  him  as  their  Lord. 
Whosoever  therefore,  believes  in  Christ  as  the 


156      THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

Lord  and  Savior,  is  to  be  admitted  into  the 
Christian  Church  on  confession  of  this  faith.  He 
may  be  poor  or  rich,  learned  or  unlearned,  low 
in  social  standing  or  high,  having  had  a  good 
record  in  morals  or  a  bad  one — he  is  to  be  ad- 
mitted to  the  equality  of  a  confession  of  Christ, 
All  that  can  be  required  of  his  confession  is  that 
it  should  be  credible.  The  officers  of  the  church, 
the  church  itself,  may  be  deceived.  A  confession 
may  be  false  and  hidden  by  a  fair  life.  It 
should  be  fairly  judged  at  the  time  of  making 
it  and  throughout  the  continued  membership. 
Christ  gives  the  church  both  the  power  of  admis- 
sion and  of  expulsion.  Both  powers  are  to  be 
exercised  in  His  spirit  and  under  His  direction, 
and  are  so  confirmed  by  Him.  Even  sincere 
believers  are  not  perfect — among  them  offences 
may  arise.  Church  discipline  is  therefore  to  be 
carried  out  according  to  the  direction  and  in  the 
spirit  of  Christ.  This,  too,  our  Catechism  says 
is  the  power  of  the  Keys,  the  opening  and  the 
shutting  of  the  doors  of  the  visible  church  that 
it  may  be  like  the  invisible  church  seen  and 
approved  by  Christ  in  Heaven.  Immediately 
after  the  confession  of  the  faith  of  the  disciples 
in  our  text — and  the  gift  of  the  Keys  to  them, 
Christ,  with  a  chosen  few,  went  up  into  the 
mountain  of  Transfiguration,  where  he  talked 
with  Moses  and  Elias,  representing  the  Old 
Testament  Church  of  His  coming  death  at  Jeru- 
salem. 

Soon  after  this,  as  it  is  recorded  in  the  18th 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM      157 

Chapter  of  the  Gospel  by  St.  Matthew,  he  gave 
the  disciples  clear  directions  for  their  self-gov- 
ernment as  His  church.  We  may  glance  at  the 
general  scope  of  these  directions.  The  greatest 
in  the  membership  of  the  church  is  to  be  the 
most  teachable  and  only  controlled  by  Christ. 
The  offender  is  to  be  treated  with  largest  con- 
sideration— great  faithfulness  and  utmost  love. 
The  object  is  to  win  him  back  to  consistent  life. 
Even  if  he  must  be  expelled,  he  is  to  be  as  a 
publican  and  sinner — so  not  to  be  rejected,  ostra- 
cized, contemned — but  with  loving  desire  to  win 
them  all  to  Christ.  Each  one  also  is  to  express 
the  utmost  forgiving  spirit  to  a  brother  who 
offends,  as  he  recognizes  his  own  great  need  of 
the  forgiveness  of  God.  We  see  at  once  discipline 
is  to  be  exercised  by  each  member  over  himself 
— by  each  member  over  his  nearby  brother,  by 
the  whole  church  in  love  to  Christ  and  love  to 
all  the  members.  It  is  not  a  matter  of  discretion 
to  be  left  undone  if  one  chooses,  but  to  be  faith- 
fully exercised  in  the  spirit  and  under  the 
direction  of  Christ.  Then  are  repeated  the  words 
of  our  text:  ''Whatsoever  ye  bind  on  earth  shall 
be  bound  in  Heaven,  and  whatsoever  ye  shall 
loose  on  earth  shall  be  loosed  in  Heaven."  This 
is  a  terrible  power  given  in  these  words  if  be- 
stowed upon  any  class  of  men  to  be  exercised 
according  to  their  own  will.  Arbitrary  govern- 
ments in  the  affairs  of  this  life  only,  have  always 
involved  for  the  one  put  to  death,  an  appeal  to 
God  in  the  future  life — and  even  against  such 


158      THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

limited  power  men  rise  in  their  manhood  to  fight 
for  freedom. 

But  there  is  no  arbitrary  power  given  here. 
Even  God  Himself  exercises  no  arbitrary  power. 
He  always  rules  in  righteousness.  With  Him 
there  is  no  respect  of  persons.  Surely  He  would 
not  give  such  power  to  any  class  of  men.  It  is 
only  when  the  disciples  to  whom  Christ  spoke — 
and  in  our  day  the  church  succeeding  the  disci- 
ples— act  in  the  spirit  of  Christ,  the  spirit  of 
love  seeking  to  save,  giving  himself  to  save,  that 
the  power  of  the  Keys  exists.  Thus,  the  power 
of  the  Keys  is  to  be  exercised  in  welcoming  to 
full  membership  in  the  church  upon  the  con- 
fession of  faith  and  in  insisting  upon  a  life  in 
obedience  to  Christ  in  harmony  with  such  con- 
fession of  faith. 

The  Apostle  Paul  spent  a  year  and  a  half  in 
Corinth  and  gathered  a  church  there  of  perhaps 
500  members — gathered  them  in  a  city  of  per- 
haps 500,000  heathen,  from  heathen  immorality 
in  which  they  had  spent  their  lives  and  amid 
which  they  were  to  live  in  this  church  organiza- 
tion. Corinth,  the  commercial  capital  of  Greece 
was  celebrated  for  Grecian  culture,  "Corinthian 
speech"  being  a  synonym  for  polish  and  elo- 
quence, and  notorious  also  for  profligacy,  "Cor- 
inthian life"  being  a  synonym  for  licentiousness 
— a  license  fostered  by  the  worship  of  licentious 
gods.  It  was  to  be  expected  that  into  a  church 
so  situated  some  pride  of  intellect  should  enter 
to  question  about  the  reasonableness  of  Paul's 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM      159 

teaching  and  some  licentiousness  should  enter 
to  contaminate  the  purity  of  the  Christian  life. 
So  in  the  First  Epistle  Paul  wrote  to  the 
Corinthians,  he  directs  the  church  to  keep  both 
its  faith  and  its  life  pure.  The  licentious  mem- 
ber is  not  to  be  encouraged  in  his  licentiousness 
by  the  silence  of  the  church.  He  is  to  be  faith- 
fully rebuked  for  his  own  sake — and  to  keep  the 
church  to  the  purity  of  the  life  in  Christ.  If 
he  persists,  he  is  to  be  expelled  from  the  church, 
sent  back  to  the  world,  but  this  is  to  be  in  love 
to  him  as  well  as  to  save  his  soul  by  urging 
him  to  repentance.  The  divisions  in  the  church 
of  different  teachings,  and  the  rejection  of  some 
great  truths  of  Christianity  as  the  resurrection 
of  the  body,  Paul  meets  with  an  eloquence  more 
fine,  even,  than  the  Corinthian  eloquence  in  the 
chapter  on  love  and  the  chapter  on  the  resurrec- 
tion. So  we  have  Christ's  own  teaching  on  con- 
fession of  faith  and  the  life  of  faith  in  His 
church,  and  we  have  an  example  by  the  Apostle 
to  the  Gentiles  of  the  way  in  which  the  preach- 
ing of  the  gospel  and  Christian  discipline  should 
be  administered.  The  object  and  spirit  of  dis- 
cipline are  thus  clearly  taught  by  our  Savior  and 
illustrated  by  the  Apostle  Paul.  The  honor  of 
our  Lord,  the  purity  of  His  church  and  the  wel- 
fare of  the  offender.  Private  grudge  is  pro- 
hibited, popular  prejudice  is  to  be  avoided,  arbi- 
trary power  is  forbidden.  The  spirit  is  only 
love — love  for  Christ,  love  for  His  church,  love 
for  the  offender.     The  brother  is  to  be  restored. 


160      THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

Should  he  prove  stubborn  and  impenitent,  he 
is  to  be  removed  from  the  membership  to  be 
as  a  publican  and  sinner.  But  the  whole  spirit 
of  the  church  and  experience  through  the  ages 
is  to  persuade  publicans  and  sinners  to  trust 
Christ  as  their  Savior.  So  he  is  to  be  persuaded 
to  become  a  Christian.  Alas,  the  church  has 
often,  especially  through  the  Middle  Ages,  lost 
the  spirit  of  Christ  in  her  discipline,  has  ostra- 
cized, imprisoned — even  killed  the  offenders. 

The  Catechism  clearly  declares  that  both  ad- 
mission to  the  church  by  the  preaching  of  the 
gospel  and  exclusion  from  the  church  by  disci- 
pline should  be  "according  to  this  command  of 
Christ."  Surely  it  is  clear  that  the  church 
should  admit  to  its  membership  all  those  who 
are  really  members  of  Christ  by  a  true  faith. 
There  should  be,  of  course,  an  intelligent  accep- 
tance of  Christ,  a  trust  in  Him  for  salvation  from 
sin,  and  a  purpose  to  live  in  obedience  to  Him. 
All  these  the  disciples  had  when  they  confessed 
their  Lord.  But  they  had  a  great  deal  yet  to 
learn  about  Christ  and  His  redeeming  work.  He 
had  as  yet  taught  them  little  about  the  meaning 
of  His  death.  Not  a  single  one  of  them  could, 
at  that  time,  have  accepted  any  of  the  great 
creeds  the  church  has  formulated  since  the  New 
Testament  times — creeds  based  largely  upon  the 
after-teachings  of  these  same  and  other  disciples. 
While  it  is  very  desirable  to  have  creeds  as  we 
have  seen,  and  to  have  a  membership  well 
informed  upon  them,  it  is  certainly  not  according 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM      161 

to  the  command  of  Christ  to  have  acceptance 
of  such  creeds  a  condition  of  admission  to  the 
church.  One  may  be  a  sincere  confessor  of 
Christ  as  his  Lord  and  Savior  and  yet  be  igno- 
rant of  many  doctrines  of  the  church.  He  should 
not  be  deprived  of  the  duty  and  privilege  of 
confessing  Christ  and  of  the  membership  of  the 
church. 

The  church  has  no  right  to  make  any  condi- 
tions of  membership  other  than  Christ  has  made. 
On  the  other  hand,  all  those  who  do  not  acknowl- 
edge Christ  as  their  Lord,  do  not  trust  Him  as 
their  Savior  and  do  not  purpose  to  live  in 
obedience  to  Him  should  not  be  admitted  to  the 
membership — though  they  be  the  Kings  of  the 
earth,  the  leaders  in  learning,  in  wealth  and  in 
social  life.  The  humblest  disciple  is  to  be  ad- 
mitted— the  loftiest  disbeliever  is  to  be  excluded 
according  to  the  command  of  Christ.  So  with 
discipline.  If  any  member  of  the  church,  how- 
ever, great,  however  small,  in  worldly  rank  or 
standing,  falls  into  an  offence,  clearly  seems  to 
be  an  offender,  as  taught  by  God  in  His  Word, 
each  one  is  to  be  reproved  in  love  by  the  church 
of  which  he  is  a  member  in  order  that  he  may 
repent  and  turn  from  the  offense  to  live  the 
Christ  life — and  if  he  becomes  impenitent  and 
continues  his  sinful  practices,  he  is  to  be  expelled 
from  the  church.  So  if  one  rejects  a  doctrine  of 
the  church,  the  question  arises,  is  it  a  primary  or 
a  secondary  doctrine.  Some  may  question,  what 
is  the  primary  doctrine?    The  spirit  of  the  creed 


162      THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

certainly  should  be,  "Come  believe  in  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  with  me:  let  us  trust  Him  as  our 
Savior,  and  so  learn  more  of  Him."  A  greater 
question  still  arises.  What  is  the  spirit  of  the 
rejection?  Is  it  rejected  because  one  thinks 
Christ  does  not  teach  it,  or  is  the  objection  a 
rejection  of  Christ  as  a  teacher?  Any  real  rejec- 
tion of  Christ  in  one's  conscience  is  his  own 
withdrawing  from  the  church,  and  one's  fellow- 
members.  The  church  itself,  should  make  that 
plain  to  the  rejecter.  Again,  such  expulsion  from 
the  church  should  be  exercised  in  love  in  such 
a  way  to  bring  the  loving  loyalty  to  Christ  of 
one's  fellow-members,  to  lead  to  the  same  loyalty. 

The  humblest  believer  in  Christ  has  the  right 
to  be  admitted  into  the  Christian  church.  Thus 
he  fulfills  Christ's  command  to  confess  Him 
before  men — thus  he  strengthens  his  faith  by 
the  fellowship  with  believer  and  cultures  the 
Christ  life  in  himself  and  in  them,  and  thus  he 
keeps  up  the  organization  of  believers  Christ 
Himself  formed  and  of  which  Christ  is  Himself 
the  Living  Head,  to  carry  on  His  work  in  the 
earth  through  all  the  ages  to  come.  His  own 
sense  of  unworthiness,  his  own  ignorance,  his 
own  weakness  should  lead  him  to  Christ,  and 
these  should  lead  him  to  obey  Christ  in  uniting 
with  His  church. 

The  church  should  also  welcome  all  Christ 
welcomes,  and  should  treat  all  her  members  as 
Christ  would  treat  them  in  love.  In  this  way, 
each  individual  member  and  the  whole  church 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM      163 

by  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  and  by  Christian 
discipline,  according  to  the  command  of  Christ, 
seeks  the  welfare  of  all  its  members — sets  forth 
the  purity  of  Christ — and  proclaims  to  the  world 
the  salvation  from  sin  wrought  by  the  loving 
Savior  of  the  lost. 

The  influence  of  the  church  in  thus  following 
her  Lord's  directions  will  have  a  large  influence 
on  public  opinions.  Christian  civilization  in  its 
laws  and  judgments  has  wandered  far  from 
this  spirit  of  Christ,  as  the  church  itself  in  past 
ages  has  done  and  is  doing  to  some  extent  and 
in  some  cases,  now.  Penal  laws  are  to  guard  the 
best  interests  of  society,  to  discourage  crime. 
Oftentimes  vengeance  and  harshness  have  ruled. 
Christ  brings  to  our  consideration  that  the  best 
interests  of  society  is  the  restoration  of  the 
criminal  to  good  citizenship..  It  commends  such 
treatment  as  shall  show  the  love  of  society  for 
all  its  members.  Prisons  should  be  controlled  by 
love  not  by  vengeance — should  reform  criminals 
not  make  and  foster  them.  The  church  in  but 
following  her  Lord's  directions  and  spirit  should 
thus  reform  the  criminal  laws  of  society.  The 
church  should  be  pure  and  strong  in  her  Lord — 
the  church  discipline  should  never  be  neglected 
but  should  be  faithfully  enforced  and  always  in 
the  spirit  of  love,  to  save  the  offender,  and  to 
keep  the  church  pure  in  doctrine  and  life,  so 
preaching  Christ  to  the  world. 


XIII. 

TWENTY-FIFTH— THIRTY-FIRST    LORD'S 
DAYS  OF  THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 


''THE  IDEAL  LIFE  OF  THE  CHURCH" 

This  is  my  commandment,  that  ye  love 
one  another  as  I  have  loved  you. 

—John  15:12. 

IT  was  the  night  before  the  crucifixion — the 
last  time  before  His  death  that  our  Savior 
was  with  His  disciples  to  counsel  and  direct 
them.  His  farewell  to  them  is  found  alone  in 
this  Gospel,  and  we  have  divided  it  here  into 
four  chapters.  Each  chapter  has  been  given  a 
single  name  fairly  describing  its  substance.  The 
Comfort  Chapter  describes  Christ's  presence  with 
them  in  their  duties  and  trials — the  Abiding 
Chapter  describes  their  life  of  faith  in  Him — the 
Holy  Ghost  Chapter  describes  their  spiritual  mes- 
sage and  power — the  Prayer  Chapter  commends 
them  and  their  life  work  to  the  Father  in 
Heaven.  It  sums  up  all  the  past  teaching  and 
it  opens  up  all  the  future  life  as  illumined  by 
the  Cross  and  the  Resurrection.  Our  text  sums 
up  the  whole  teaching  and  work  of  our  Lord  in 
His  last  commandment — "that  ye  love  one  another 
as  I  have  loved  you — ."  In  His  prayer  to  the 
Father,  He  says  He  sends  them  into  the  world 
as  His  Father  sent  Him.     He  prays  they  may 

164 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM      165 

be  one,  as  He  and  His  Father  are  One — One  in 
mission — One  in  love.  "God  so  loved  the  world 
that  He  gave  His  only  Begotten  Son  that  whoso- 
ever believeth  on  Him  should  not  perish  but 
have  everlasting  life — .*'  Christ  describes  His 
love  in  the  words  following  the  text — "Greater 
love  hath  no  man  than  this,  that  a  man  lay 
down  his  life  for  his  friends."  The  disciples 
are  to  so  believe  and  trust  and  adore  and  obey 
Him  that  they  shall  be  like  Him  and  like  His 
Father;  they  shall  so  carry  on  His  work  in  the 
world  in  His  spirit  of  love.  That  they  so  fulfilled 
His  commandment  is  seen  in  the  life  and  work 
of  the  early  church.  The  heathen  world  acknowl- 
edged and  commended  them  in  its  familiar  say- 
ing— "Behold  how  these  Christians  love  one 
another."  The  New  Testament  describes  the 
early  church  as  a  company  having  the  spirit  of 
love  in  their  single  belief — their  simple  worship 
— their  pure  government — their  devotion  in  car- 
rying on  the  work  of  Christ.  In  our  studies  we 
have  seen  the  Apostle's  Creed  was  an  early  sum- 
ming up  of  the  fundamental  truths  taught  by 
Christ.  We  have  seen  the  simple  worship  in  the 
plain  sacraments  of  baptism  and  the  Lord's 
supper;  we  have  seen  the  government  of  the 
church  arising  as  a  pure  democracy.  As  we 
look  again,  we  see  at  a  glance  that  an  undue 
proportion  of  our  Heidelberg  Catechism  is  de- 
voted to  the  Sacraments.  And  as  we  consider 
these  Lord's  Days  we  see  great  stress  is  laid 
upon  freeing  our  worship  from  errors  and  super- 


166      THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

stitions.  We  also  recall  that  much  of  the  ex- 
planations of  the  Apostle's  Creed  defends  them 
from  wrong  views  and  interpretations.  As  we 
look  at  the  constitution  of  our  church,  we  see  it 
embraces  not  only  the  Heidelberg  Catechism  and 
our  Liturgy,  but  the  Belgic  Confession  of  Faith 
and  the  Canons  of  the  Synod  of  Dort.  As  we 
glance  at  this  Confession  and  these  Canons,  we 
see  they  defend  various  views  of  many  important 
and  of  some  comparatively  unimportant  truths 
from  views  held  by  other  classes  of  Christians 
and  denominations  of  the  church.  This  glance 
at  our  own  undue  elaborations  of  creeds  leads 
us  to  glance  at  the  many  creeds  of  the  whole 
church  as  they  have  arisen  in  various  ages  and 
places,  and  we  see  that  they  too,  frequently 
magnify  unessential  truths,  peculiar  features  of 
worship  and  special  forms  of  government  to  the 
distraction  of  earnest  seekers  for  the  truth;  to 
repelling  the  careless,  and  to  the  dissension  of 
sincere  believers  into  many  conflicting  and  con- 
testing groups.  We  call  our  church  THE  RE- 
FORMED CHURCH,  meaning  that  it  is  the  New 
Testament  church  formed  again.  In  so  doing, 
we  recognize  there  are  many  divisions  and  de- 
nominations of  the  Church  Universal  existing 
today  as  the  outgrowth  of  the  past,  and  that 
these  differ  from  our  church  in  creed,  in  worship 
and  in  government  in  various  degrees,  while  all 
acknowledge  Jesus  Christ  as  the  Head  of  the 
universal  church.  How  shall  we  regard  and 
treat  these  denominations  and  divisions?     Shall 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM      167 

we  hold  ourselves  aloof  in  proud  distain?  Shall 
we  magnify  the  points  of  differences  and  antago- 
nize them?  Or  shall  we  recognize  the  good  in 
them  and  respect  and  love  them?  The  disciples 
of  Christ  to  whom  He  addressed  this  command 
had  strong  peculiarities.  They  were  individuals 
of  widely  different  attainments  and  tempera- 
ments; but  they  were  disciples  of  Christ;  they 
were  to  regard  their  allegiance  to  Him  and  their 
growing  likeness  to  Him  as  controlling,  and  so 
were  to  love  one  another  as  He  loved  them. 

In  regard  to  Creed,  Worship,  Government,  we 
of  the  Reformed  Church  are  to  be  very  strict 
with  ourselves;  to  learn  of  and  estimate  our 
peculiarities  at  their  full  value.  Christ  did  not 
destroy  the  individuality  of  His  disciples ;  rather 
He  cultivated  it;  but  each  one  recognizing  the 
value  of  His  own  personality,  was  to  recognize 
and  love  every  other  disciple.  Christ  was  the 
ideal,  and  He  inspired  the  spirit  of  love  among 
the  disciples  to  love  as  He  loved.  So  with  the 
Reformed  Church  and  all  the  other  denomina- 
tions of  the  Church  Universal:  we  are  to  value 
ourselves,  our  view  of  Christ,  our  relation  to 
Him — to  have  it  grow  more  and  more  in  our 
experience.  And  then  we  are  to  love  all  denomi- 
nations in  their  relation  to  Christ.  We  are  to 
be  strict  in  judging  ourselves  and  we  are  to 
have  charity  in  judging  others.  Christians,  in- 
dividuals, groups,  denominations  are  to  love  one- 
another.  And  again  as  we  now  listen  for  the 
opinions   of  the   world   in   what  may   be   called 


168      THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

Christian  lands  and  so  also  in  heathen  lands  we 
never  hear  the  ancient  tribute,  it  was  silenced 
long  ago.  There  is,  alas,  no  voice  of  the  populace 
in  any  portion  of  the  world  that  says  today,  "Be- 
hold how  these  Christians  love  one  another."  And 
alas,  also,  the  more  intelligent  the  voice,  the 
greater  the  denial  of  such  oneness  of  spirit  in 
the  great  divisions  and  many  denominations  of 
the  Christian  Church.  Also,  alas,  we  cannot 
claim  that  our  denomination  is  exempt  from  the 
great  fault.  There  seems  to  be  some  ground 
for  this  fear  that  Christians  today  are  so  using 
their  various  creeds,  modes  of  worship  and  forms 
of  government  that  this  last  command  of  Christ 
is  neglected.  Surely  the  right  use  of  creed, 
liturgy  and  government  should  foster  and  deepen 
love  for  one  another,  and  so  devotion  to  Christ 
in  carrying  on  His  mission  in  the  world.  Surely 
also  this  deep  and  widespread  love  Christ  com- 
manded if  in  general  exercise  in  the  whole 
church,  would  have  large  influence  among  the 
populace  generally  in  fostering  love  of  man  for 
man.  If  this  had  been  the  prevailing  spirit  among 
Christians  through  the  ages — and  if  this  pre- 
vailed today  among  all  Christians  in  Christian 
lands,  there  would  surely  be  a  better  spirit — 
more  love  for  humanity  in  what  we  call  Chris- 
tian civilization — and  so  Christian  lands  and 
nations  would  be  in  strong  contrast  with  heathen 
lands.  Alas,  the  contrast  today  seems  to  be 
almost  the  reverse.  The  nations  of  Northern 
Europe  where  the  Christian   religion  has   been 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM      169 

,  established  for  twelve  hundred  years  and  the 
nations  of  Southern  Europe  where  Christianity 
has  been  proclaimed  for  nineteen  hundred  years, 
and  our  own  nation  a  Christian  nation  from  its 
birth,  are  just  emerging  from  a  Christian  world 
war  more  fierce  and  cruel  and  destructive  than 
any  war  ever  waged  by  heathen  nations  in  the 
history  of  the  race.  There  has  been  splendid 
devotion  of  all  our  powers,  lofty  self-sacrifice 
to  defend  righteousness  against  cruel  wickedness. 
The  Allies  have,  at  awful  cost,  saved  the  world 
from  the  arrogance  of  sinful  ambition.  But  still 
the  question  arises.  How  is  it  possible  that 
Christian  public  opinion  in  all  these  lands  should 
have  permitted  such  selfish  ambition  to  seek 
world  dominion,  should  have  been  forced  to  call 
for  such  heroic  self-sacrifice  to  save  from  na- 
tional slavery?  Why  did  not  these  many  Chris- 
tian nations  love  each  other  so  much  that  each 
sought  the  other's  welfare  as  it  sought  its  own? 
But  this  is  only  part  of  the  vision.  Now  the 
war  is  over,  what  conflict  arises  in  trying  to 
form  a  peace  based  on  righteousness  and  a 
League  of  Nations  to  prevent  future  war.  It 
seems  hard  to  find  a  ruling  spirit  of  love.  These 
many  nations  large  and  small— of  different  races, 
are  all  brothers  in  theory,  in  the  view  of  Christ ; 
but  Christ  seems  to  be  seldom  mentioned  and  to 
have  but  little  influence  in  the  Council  of  Nations 
in  Paris  or  in  our  own  Senate  at  Washington. 
But  still  this  is  only  part  of  the  vision.  Now 
the  war  is  over,  what  seething  passions  under 


170      THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

the  fair  surface  of  Christian  civilization  on  the 
other  side  of  the  ocean  and  on  this  side,  too, 
threaten  to  break  forth  with  destructive  force. 
Not  only  in  torn  Russia,  but  in  law-abiding 
America,  class  arises  against  class,  growing 
rapidly  and  ready  to  spring  upon  each  other  in 
fierce  warfare,  even  to  the  overthrow  of  the 
government.  The  neighboring  nations  not  only, 
but  neighboring  classes  do  not  seem  to  love  each 
other  as  themselves.  Also  in  the  industrial 
world,  employees  and  employers.  Capital  and 
Labor  are  struggling  with  each  other,  each  for  its 
own  selfish  ends,  instead  of  trying  each  to  give 
the  other  fair  treatment  and  both  to  benefit  man- 
kind. Alas!  look  at  the  church  still  divided  in 
great  divisions  and  in  many  denominations.  Can 
any  one  say  each  division,  each  denomination 
loves  all  others  as  it  loves  itself.  After  nineteen 
centuries,  do  Christians  love  one  another  as 
Christ  loves  them?  There  may  be  some  of  this 
kind  of  love  existing  in  mild  exercise,  in  small 
neighborhoods  and  in  small  individual  churches, 
but  there  is  little  sign  of  it  between  the  sections 
of  the  church,  at  any  rate,  not  in  large  controll- 
ing power.  When  a  noble  and  energetic  man 
is  severely  criticized  as  to  the  results  of  his  life 
work  by  admiring  friends,  is  assaulted  by  his 
foes  and  is  only  mildly  defended  by  his  own 
mature  judgment,  it  will  be  natural  for  him 
to  review  the  wisdom  of  his  action.  Has  he 
had  the  right  object  in  view,  has  he  chosen  the 
best  means   to   accomplish   this   object,   has   he 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM      171 

devoted  sufficient  time  and  power  to  his  life 
work?  These  will  be  some  of  the  lines  of  his 
thoughts  as  he  reviews  his  past  and  plans  for 
his  future.  That  which  commends  itself  as  a 
wise  course  for  an  individual  is  especially  wise 
for  a  class — for  the  church  of  Christ.  What  is 
Christianity,  anyway?  What  is  taught  in  our 
theological  seminaries  ?  What  do  preachers  preach 
about?  What  do  church-going  people  demand 
of  their  preachers?  For  here,  as  in  other 
matters,  the  demand  has  something  to  do  with 
the  supply.  Does  Christianity  include  love,  love 
for  God,  love  for  the  brotherhood  of  believers, 
love  for  all  mankind  to  bring  them  to  God  the 
Father  through  Christ  the  Savior.  Is  not  Chris- 
tianity in  itself  love,  in  its  method  love,  in  its 
object  love.  Then  the  church  in  forming  its 
creeds  forms  them  as  a  means  of  cultivating  this 
character  and  accomplishing  this  end;  of  draw- 
ing men  together  and  drawing  men  to  God.  The 
creed  should  appeal — Come,  let  us  love  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  and  grow  like  Him.  Whence,  then, 
the  divisions  existing  in  the  church?  Because 
the  reverse  spirit  in  forming  and  using  creeds 
has  found  exercise.  Pride  of  opinion  has  grown 
into  selfish  intollerance  of  all  other  opinion.  Var- 
ious descriptions  and  shadings  of  truths  have 
awakened  and  been  confirmed  by  controversy, 
the  unimportant  shadow  has  hid  the  truth  itself 
and  divided  and  repelled  believers  from  each 
other  so  that  sects  in  the  church  have  often 
arisen   and  antagonized   each   other   in   a   spirit 


172      THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

bordering  on  the  warlike.  Sometimes  God  has 
been  presented  as  far  from  attractive,  as  having 
such  favoritism  and  partiality,  as  verges  on  injus- 
tice, and  there  is  nothing  so  repellant  to  human 
nature  as  injustice.  That  creed  must  be  wrong 
in  itself  or  wrongly  preached  which  repels  from 
God  and  divides  man  from  man.  It  certainly 
cannot  be  in  harmony  with  Christ's  creed.  He 
calls  us  to  love  God  our  Father  because  He  is 
infinitely  lovely  in  all  His  character  and  actions, 
because  He  loves  us  with  a  greater  love  than  any 
earthly  father  ever  had  for  his  children;  and 
when  we  love  Him  as  our  Father,  we  will  love 
each  other  as  brethren — and  will  live  and  preach 
the  love  of  Christ  for  all  mankind. 

Likewise  the  church  has  paid  great  attention 
to  worship  through  the  ages.  Who  shall  con- 
duct it,  where  shall  it  be  conducted  and  under 
what  forms?  We  see  priests  and  preachers, 
altars  and  pulpits,  magnificent  cathedrals  and 
modest  meeting-houses,  elaborate  forms  and 
simple  ones.  All  these  have  so  drawn  attention 
to  themselves  and  have  so  divided  worshippers 
into  classes  often  contending  vigorously  that  each 
has  the  only  true  worship,  that  the  mass  of  the 
people  and  the  leaders  themselves  have  lost  sight 
of  what  true  worship  is.  If  worship  is  the 
pleasing  of  God  by  a  man  becoming  in  shape 
worthy  of  God,  then  the  only  question  about 
the  form  of  worship  is,  does  it  bring  a  man 
into  a  shape  worthy  of  God,  or  does  it  repel  man 
from  man  and  man  from  God?     God  is  love — 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM      173 

worship  of  God,  true  worship  whatever  its  forms, 
is  loving  God  and  loving  man  as  he  loves  and 
seeks  to  save. 

Any  group  of  people  to  prosper  in  the  present 
and  be  succeeded  in  the  coming  years,  must  have 
some  rules  of  order,  some  leadership,  some 
common  purpose  and  common  life.  So  govern- 
ment has  arisen  in  the  church.  It  is  a  bewilder- 
ing maze,  the  history  of  church  government, 
from  pure  democracy  to  absolute  monarchy, 
from  great  liberty  to  vast  tyranny,  and  between 
these  extremes  many  degrees  and  grades  until 
the  object  of  government  has  been  lost  sight  of 
— the  union  and  welfare  of  the  governed — until 
the  church  itself  is  divided  into  often  contending 
and  sometimes  fighting  factions,  while  the  world 
looks  on  in  amazement.  When  Christian  preachers 
and  peoples,  the  whole  church,  recognizes  the 
failure  as  well  as  the  success  of  Christianity, 
and  that  the  success  is  largely  a  surface  matter, 
and  the  failure  a  leaving  unchanged  the  deep 
nature  of  man;  the  success  a  matter  of  intellec- 
tual belief,  creeds,  a  matter  of  religious  observ- 
ance, formal  worship — a  matter  of  fellowship, 
a  government ;  the  failure  the  losing  sight  of  and 
effort  for  the  object  of  a  simple  creed,  a  pure 
worship  and  a  just  government,  that  is  a  life 
of  devotion  to  Christ  in  keeping  the  law  of 
God;  when  the  failure  is  recognized  as  it  exists 
in  the  whole  world  and  especially  in  Christian 
nations,  a  lack  of  love  among  Christians  and  of 
the  influence  in  planting  and  fostering  love  as 


174      THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

the  spirit  of  Christianity  among  classes,  nations 
and  races  of  mankind;  when  the  church  thus 
reflects  upon  its  life  and  work  for  the  past 
nineteen  centuries  in  the  whole  world,  it  must 
surely  cease  from  fostering  complacency,  if  such 
has  been  its  feeling,  and  now  earnestly  resolve 
to  turn  over  a  new  leaf,  to  hereafter  seek  the 
object  of  Christianity — love — and  to  use  all  its 
means  and  methods  to  secure  that  end.  There 
is  still  time  for  the  church  to  do  her  great  work 
in  this  earth.  The  sun  is  not  dying  out,  the  earth 
is  not  exhausted,  the  race  of  man  is  still  young, 
the  gospel  has  not  lost  its  power.  There  are 
twenty  centuries  behind  us;  there  may  be, 
probably  are,  two  hundred  and  more  centuries 
ahead  of  us.  God  is  never  in  a  hurry,  never 
impatient.  In  His  gracious  plans  there  is  still 
an  opportunity  given  His  church  to  spread  His 
kingdom  in  all  the  earth.  There  is  still  a  vast 
call  for  the  gospel  of  love. 

What  nation  shall  have  the  dominant  influence 
in  the  League  of  Nations,  should  it  be  formed, 
is  a  question  of  little  importance  compared  with 
the  kind  of  influence  it  and  all  the  nations  shall 
have — influence  of  self-aggrandizement  or  influ- 
ence of  loving  service.  Whether  the  Bolshevik,  the 
Bourgeois  or  the  Aristocrat  group  shall  rule  in 
Russia  or  anywhere  else  is  of  little  consequence 
beside  the  question — How  shall  any  class  rule 
for  itself  or  for  the  good  of  society?  If  our  own 
government  of  which  we  are  so  proud,  "the  gov- 
ernment of  the  people,  by  the  people,  for  the 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM      175 

people,"  amounts  to  anything  worth  while,  it 
must  realize  this  ideal  by  the  growth  of  the 
Christian  spirit  of  love.  Public  opinion  must  put 
in  office  those  only  who  regard  their  office  as  a 
public  trust  to  be  administered  not  for  their  own 
power  or  glory,  but  for  the  good  of  all  the  people. 
If  the  great  power  of  man  over  nature  acquired 
today  becomes  a  blessing  and  not  a  curse  to  the 
race,  man  himself  must  become  Christian.  The 
great  forces  of  industry,  the  inventors,  the 
owners,  the  managers  and  the  employees  of 
producing,  manufacturing,  transporting  and 
marketing  agencies  must  each  seek  the  other's 
welfare  and  all  must  combine  for  the  good  of 
society. 

What  a  glad  day  it  will  be  for  the  earth  when 
all  these  things  shall  be  brought  about  by  Chris- 
tian love.  Then  will  be  realized  the  many 
prophetic  visions  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  in  this 
earth.  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  Himself,  should 
He  return  to  the  earth  tomorrow,  could  not 
establish  His  kingdom  by  force,  the  old  Roman 
way.  Even  He  must  establish  the  Kingdom  of 
Heaven  on  earth  by  leading  mankind  to  keep 
the  law  of  love.  This  work  He  now  gives  His 
Church  to  do  in  His  service. 

So  we  easily  recognize  that  the  church  must 
see  and  realize  that  the  object  of  creed,  worship 
and  government  is  to  live  in  Him  and  carry  on 
His  work.  To  do  this  the  church  must  obey  the 
last  command  of  her  Lord,  "That  ye  love  one 
another  as  I  have  loved  you";  must  so  yield  to 


176      THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

the  Holy  Spirit  as  to  have  His  spiritual  message 
and  power,  and  so  must  realize  the  prayer  of  our 
Lord  by  becoming  one  in  mission  and  one  in 
love  with  the  Father  in  Heaven. 

The  incidents  recorded  soon  after  our  text  of 
the  Garden  of  Gethsemane  and  the  Court  of  the 
High  Priest,  afford  an  incident  to  the  church  of 
today  as  she  reflects  upon  her  past  and  plans 
for  her  future. 

Peter  was  a  man  of  bravery  and  enthusiasm. 
In  the  Garden  he  defended  his  Master  with  the 
sword.  Peter  alas,  sometimes  distrusted  himself 
and  quailed  before  great  opposition.  He  sought 
his  own  comfort  and  safety  as  he  sat  by  the 
fire  and  warmed  himself  in  the  High  Priest's 
palace.  Peter's  strong  allegiance  to  Christ  was 
aroused  again  as  Christ  looked  upon  him — and 
he  went  out  and  wept  bitterly.  From  this  time 
on  his  bravery  and  enthusiasm  increased  until 
his  martyr  death.  It  was  but  a  short  hour  he 
spent  by  the  fire  warming  himself.  Ever  after 
he  was  true  to  his  Lord  and  did  a  vast  service 
for  mankind. 

The  nineteen  centuries  of  the  church's  history 
are  but  as  that  short  hour.  The  church  has  still 
to  do  a  vast  work  for  her  Master  in  the  coming 
centuries. 


XIV. 


THIRTY-SECOND  LORD'S  DAY  OF  THE 
HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 


"GOOD  WORKS" 

Who  gave  himself  for  us  that  he  might 
redeem  us  from  all  iniquity  and  purify 
unto  himself  a  peculiar  people  zealous  of 
good  works. — Titus  2:14. 

IT  is  astonishing  how  much  truth  is  condensed 
in  and  clearly  expressed  by  this  text;  here 
is    stated    man's    condition    in    nature    "in 
iniquity"— Christ's  work  to  "redeem  us"  and  the 
result  man,  "zealous  of  good  works." 

This  is  the  truth  elaborated,  illustrated  and 
enforced  in  the  whole  Bible.  This  is  the  truth 
experienced  in  the  heart  and  life  of  each  Chris- 
tian. This  is  the  truth  set  forth  in  our  Heidel- 
berg Catechism.  Our  Catechism  has  three  divi- 
sions: L  Man's  Misery;  II.  Man's  Disobedience; 
III.  Thankfulness. 

We  now  enter  upon  the  third  division,  Man's 
Thankfulness  to  God  for  delivering  him  from 
his  misery.  The  text  says  Christ  purifies  to 
Himself  a  people  for  his  own  possession  zealous 
of  good  works— He  describes  Salvation  as  being 
"zealous  of  good  works." 

There  are  two  truths  very  important  for  all 
177 


178      THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

to  realize  about  good  works — the  first  is  that 
such  good  works  are  in  no  sense  necessary  to 
salvation ;  the  second  is  that  they  are  the  essence 
of  salvation. 

These  seemingly  contradictory  truths  are  of 
the  utmost  importance  to  us.  I  do  not  know 
which  is  the  more  important  of  the  two.  We 
may  consider  them  separately. 

First:  Good  works  are  in  no  sense  necessary 
to  our  salvation;  they  do  not  form  any  part  of 
it — they  do  not  in  any  way  contribute  to  it; 
they  do  not  in  any  way  minister  to  it.  In  truth 
what  we  call  good  works  may  stand  in  the  way 
of  our  salvation.  May  hinder  us  from  accepting 
Christ  who  alone  saves  from  sin  both  from  its 
guilt  and  from  its  power. 

We  must  recognize  that  we  are  sinners  in  need 
of  salvation  and  that  Christ  is  the  complete 
Savior.  If  anyone  is  inclined  to  rely  upon  his 
own  righteousness  for  his  salvation  he  should 
carefully  examine  it  in  the  light  of  the  law  of 
his  being — God's  law — it  may  meet  with  the 
approval  of  his  fellow-men — does  it  meet  with 
the  approval  of  God;  it  may  satisfy  very  high 
human  standards — does  it  satisfy  God's  stand- 
ards? Have  you  from  the  first  moment  of 
consciousness  spontaneously,  naturally,  constant- 
ly loved  God  supremely.  Have  you  loved  yourself 
as  a  creature  of  God,  to  make  the  most  of  your- 
self as  God  would  have  you  in  His  sight.  Have 
you  in  that  way  and  to  that  degree  loved  your 
neighbor  as  yourself.     Is  this  your  nature  now? 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM      179 

Or  has  there  been  the  reverse  record  and  is 
there  a  reverse  tendency  now?  You  may  not 
approve  of  your  record  and  tendency — you  may 
even  try  to  atone  for  it  and  to  overcome  it 
but  you  consciously  fail  both  in  love  of  God  and 
in  love  of  man.  Your  soul  is  like  a  bird  in  a 
cage.  It  was  made  to  fly,  to  soar  with  exalting 
wing  in  the  sunlight  of  the  broad  heavens  but 
try  as  it  will,  it  strikes  the  strong  wires  of 
the  cage,  becomes  discouraged,  dispirited — a  will- 
ing captive  contented  with  fluttering  from  perch  to 
perch  in  its  cage — only  in  our  case  we  have  con- 
structed our  own  cage  with  the  vices  of  in- 
gratitude, indifference  and  disobedience  to  God 
and  self  indulgence  of  our  lower  nature — and 
selfish  struggles  with  our  fellow-men.  Still  we 
were  made  to  fly  in  the  broad  heavens  of  God's 
love — and  our  very  fluttering  is  a  remnant  of 
our  original  nature  as  God  designed  us. 

Only  do  not  be  deceived  that  our  fluttering 
commends  us  to  God.  Our  righteousness — our 
good  works  in  the  sight  of  men,  and  in  our  own 
sight  are  nothing  more  than  the  fluttering  of 
our  better  nature  and  are  utterly  powerless  to 
break  the  wires  of  our  worse  nature.  Such 
righteousness  if  it  satisfies  us  will  only  keep  us 
from  Christ — Who  alone  can  let  the  prisoner 
free.  Such  righteousness  can  be  no  part  of  our 
salvation.  May  keep  us  from  salvation.  Christ 
saves  sinners — He  does  not  wait  for  them  to 
become  righteous,  to  come  half  way  out  of  sin, 
its  penalty,  its  power,  or  any  distance.       Christ 


180      THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

comes  all  the  way  to  the  sinner — and  saves  him 
altogether. 

The  Gospel  of  Christ  is  not  "Do  the  best  you 
can  and  Christ  will  do  the  rest." 

He  is  not  a  part  Savior,  but  a  whole  Savior. 
Our  good  works  of  whatever  amount  or  degree 
are  no  part  of  our  salvation.  We  do  not  escape 
the  curse  of  the  law  or  receive  the  favor  of  God 
because  we  are  good — because  of  our  good  works, 
but  solely  because  Christ  is  our  Savior  and  we 
trust  in  Him.  Our  Catechism  says  Christ  has 
redeemed  and  delivered  us  by  His  blood  and 
revives  us  by  His  Holy  Spirit.  We  have  in  former 
Lord's  Days  seen  how  Christ  by  His  death  and 
life  takes  away  our  death  in  sin  and  renews  our 
life  in  Him.  We  recognize  our  misery  and  rely 
entirely  by  our  faith  in  Christ  for  our  salvation. 
Our  text  says  Christ  redeemed  us  from  all  ini- 
quity and  purifies  unto  himself  a  peculiar  people 
zealous  of  good  work.  The  zeal  for  good  works 
does  not  save  in  any  sense  but  they  show  that  we 
are  saved.  Christ  saves  and  He  alone.  The  man 
in  the  ark  was  safe  not  because  of  his  character 
— not  even  because  he  was  of  the  family  of  Noah 
— but  because  he  was  in  the  ark.  The  man 
behind  the  door  post  sprinkled  with  the  blood 
of  the  lamb  was  safe  not  because  of  his  charac- 
ter, not  because  he  was  of  the  family  of  Abra- 
ham, but  because  "he  was  sheltered  by  the 
blood."  In  both  cases  they  believed  the  threaten- 
ing and  the  promises  of  God,  and  in  both  cases 
they  must  have  been  thankful   to   God  for  His 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM      181 

salvation.  The  zeal  for  good  works  does  not 
secure  the  favor  of  God  in  Christ  but  flows  from 
it.  And  zeal  for  good  works  does  not  merit 
eternal  life  but  this  manifests  itself  in  good 
works.  The  source  of  the  Mississippi  River  is 
in  a  large  spring  in  the  north  of  our  land.  The 
great  river  does  not  flow  into  the  spring  but 
from  it  and  grows  as  it  flows. 

We  shall  more  fully  consider  the  nature  of 
good  works  in  succeeding  Lord's  Days,  we  need 
only  state  generally  now  that  they  are  good  in 
God's  sight,  both  in  spirit  and  in  expression  they 
are  in  obedience  to  the  law  "love  God  supremely 
and  love  your  neighbor  as  yourself."  This  is 
the  high  standard,  the  lofty  ideal  to  which  we 
aspire  and  strive.  The  Holy  Spirit  renews  us 
after  the  image  of  Christ— He  was  perfect  and 
we  are  to  be  constantly  aspiring  and  striving 
after  this  perfection.  The  text  uses  the  word 
zealous,  the  idea  is  that  of  boiling  up,  not  merely 
bubbling  up  as  a  fountain  but  the  ardor  of  heat 
boiling  up,  the  idea  of  enthusiasm  to  be  enthused 
by  the  spirit  of  God  in  Christ  in  the  new  and 
eternal  life. 

There  are  certain  results  to  be  attained  by 
good  works  and  the  Holy  Spirit  used  these  as 
motives  to  stir  us  up  to  zeal.  All  human  life 
needs  motives  to  action — and  through  exercise 
life  grows  in  strength — becomes  more  zealous — 
more  enthusiastic. 

Our  Catechism  presents  three  strong  incentives 
to  such  zealous  living — to  constant  good  works. 


182      THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

— ^  First,  they  show  our  gratitude  to  God — and  so 
praise  Him.  Good  works  are  not  for  reward, 
but  for  thanksgiving.  They  spring  spontaneous- 
ly in  praise  of  God.  A  man  is  sick  of  a  danger- 
ous and  contagious  disease  and  a  skilled  physician 
risks  his  own  life  and  devotes  his  time  and 
ability  to  secure  his  recovery.  Surely  such  a 
man  whose  life  is  saved  will  have  gratitude  to 
his  friend.  Shall  we  not  express  our  gratitude 
to  the  Great  Physician  of  our  souls.  A  man  is 
poor  and  in  despair  and  a  friend  relieves  his 
poverty  and  puts  him  on  his  feet  again  and 
sets  him  on  the  way  of  prosperity,  will  he  not 
be  grateful?  Shall  we  not  be  grateful  to  God 
who  relieves  our  poverty — gives  us  new  courage 
and  opportunity  and  holds  before  us  the  riches 
of  heaven?  A  soldier  is  captured  by  the  enemy 
and  suffers  all  hardship  of  the  prison — and  his 
captain  risks  his  life,  breaks  open  the  prison 
door  and  leads  him  back  to  freedom.  Will  he 
not  be  thankful  for  the  rescue?  Shall  we  not 
be  grateful  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  who  shed 
His  blood  to  open  our  prison  doors  and  to  lead 
us  out  to  freedom  in  His  service.  Good  works 
are  the  only  possible  expression  of  our  thankful- 
ness to  God.    We  should  be  zealous  in  them. 

' — ^  The  second  incentive  our  Catechism  mentions 
is  good  works  are  the  fruit  of  faith  and  so  assure 
us  of  the  sincerity  and  strength  of  our  faith.  If 
I  was  sick  and  a  good  physician  promised  me 
restored  health,  my  greatest  satisfaction  would 
be  to  feel  the  coming  of  health.     If  I  was  poor 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM      183 

and  cast  down  and  a  rich  and  wise  friend  offered 
me  help  and  a  new  courage  and  start  to  pros- 
perity my  greatest  comfort  and  courage  would 
be  to  feel  the  start  and  growth  of  the  offered 
prosperity.  If  I  was  a  soldier  and  my  captain 
promised  me  his  help  to  freedom,  my  greatest 
courage  would  be  to  hear  his  step— to  see  the 
prison  door  open — and  to  walk  with  him  to 
freedom.  So  I,  sick,  poor,  in  prison  receive  the 
gracious  offer  of  Christ's  deliverance  if  I  trust 
Him.  My  greatest  comfort  is  to  feel  His  deliver- 
ance, to  know  my  faith  is  in  Him — that  He  saves 
me.  Faith  works  by  love— purifies  the  heart — 
so  faith  evidences  its  presence  and  power  in 
good  works. 

The  third  incentive  is  that  by  good  works  we 
may  bring  others  to  share  the  salvation  in 
Christ.  Those  who  believe  in  Christ — those  who 
are  saved  in  Him  earnestly  desire  that  their 
fellows  also  shall  experience  His  salvation.  How 
can  this  desire  of  the  heart  be  brought  about. 
If  your  face  shines  with  thankfulness  to  God,  if 
your  faith  evidences  itself  by  good  works  your 
fellows  will  see  the  Christ  life  in  you.  Then 
when  you  speak  to  them  of  your  Savior,  and 
their  need  of  Him,  they  will  listen,  for  your  life 
as  well  as  your  tongue  proclaim  the  blessedness 
of  salvation  in  Christ,  and  they  will  want  to 
possess  that  blessedness. 

If  we  delight  in  religious  observances,  if  in 
the  family  and  social  life,  we  are  loving  and 
generous — if  in  business  and  political  life  we  are 


184      THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

just  and  true — if  in  all  our  lives  we  show  love 
to  God  and  love  to  our  fellow-men — if  we  are 
zealous  of  good  works,  we  are  trying  to  live  the 
Christ  life.  Our  lot  may  be  hard — have  many 
struggles  for  daily  bread  and  sufficient  clothing 
— or  it  may  be  prosperous — we  may  be  ignorant 
or  learned — high  in  social  standing  or  lowly — 
healthy  or  sickly — happy  or  afflicted,  whatever 
the  particulars,  this  will  be  the  blessed  outcome 
— others  may  be  gained  to  Christ.  We  grow 
more  and  more  zealous  of  good  works  in  thanks- 
giving to  God,  in  experiencing  the  blessed  salva- 
tion and  in  commending  Christ  to  our  fellow- 
men.     Surely  this  is  a  noble  life  worth  living. 

We  have  in  former  Lord's  Days  of  our  Cate- 
chism considered  the  Church  of  Christ  as  an 
organization  of  His  followers.  It  is  a  divine 
organization  of  which  He  is  the  head,  the  condi- 
tions of  membership,  the  ordinances,  the  govern- 
ment are  all  of  His  ordaining.  Hence  also  the 
design  of  the  church  must  be  divine.  Our  text 
is  from  the  Epistle  of  Paul  to  Titus.  The  Epistle 
itself  may  be  called.  Directions  for  the  organiz- 
ing of  churches.  The  text  says  Christ  purifies 
unto  Himself  a  people  for  His  own  possession 
zealous  of  good  works.  This  of  course  as  we 
have  thus  far  considered  includes  each  individual 
believer  in  Christ  it  manifestly  also  sets  forth 
the  design  of  the  organization  of  the  church — a 
peculiar  people — a  people  for  his  own  possession. 
The  condition  of  membership — the  ordinances — 
the  discipline,  the  whole  organization  to  promote 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM      185 

"zealousness  for  good  works."  The  communion 
of  the  saints  is  an  article  of  the  Apostle's  Creed. 
They  are  to  encourage,  stimulate  and  help  one 
another  in  their  zeal  for  good  works.  The  church 
is  commissioned  to  observe  the  worship  of  its 
Lord — the  observance  of  the  Sabbath — the  cher- 
ishing and  proclaiming  the  word  of  God.  Its 
fellowship  is  to  promote  the  wholesome  lives 
of  its  members,  lives  of  righteousness  and  love 
in  all  the  relations  of  the  social  life.  Christ's 
redemption  of  the  individual  from  his  iniquity 
is  of  necessity  the  basis  of  the  redemption  of 
the  church — the  organization  of  believers,  and 
He  purifies  them  together  as  His  peculiar  people 
zealous  of  good  works.  Man  is  a  social  being 
in  his  nature.  Love  of  man  must  flow  from 
the  love  of  God. 

The  Bible  has  as  distinct  a  conception  of 
society  as  it  has  of  God — God  the  Father,  man 
the  brother.  There  is  as  much  Biblical  sociology 
as  there  is  Biblical  theology.  The  church  must 
live  and  proclaim  and  advance  the  Kingdom  of 
God.  The  Kingdom  of  Heaven  on  earth.  The 
immediate  aim  of  Christ  is  to  save  the  individual. 
The  mediate  aim  of  Christ  is  a  saved  society, 
the  church.  The  ultimate  aim  of  Christ  is  a  saved 
race — the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  on  the  earth.  The 
church  then  in  every  community  is  to  live  the 
Christ  life  in  that  community — to  live  as  Christ 
would  live  there — to  discover  the  needs  of  the 
community,  to  consider  the  best  way  of  minister- 
ing to  them,  and  to  bring  the  combined  life  of 


186      THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

the  organization  into  zealousness  of  good  works. 
The  world  then  has  caught  a  glimpse  of  Christ's 
great  design  when  it  demands  of  the  church  that 
it  not  only  should  show  the  world  what  to 
believe  but  how  to  live — and  thus  the  world  is 
right  in  judging  the  sincerity  of  the  faith  of 
the  church  by  the  earnestness  of  its  life,  the 
sincerity  of  its  love  for  Christ  by  its  ministry 
to  the  needs  of  mankind. 

The  church  is  to  do  good  works — as  the 
individual  is — not  to  save  itself  nor  to  increase 
its  membership,  nor  to  advance  its  social  standing, 
nor  for  anything  short  of  the  love  for  Christ — 
out  of  likeness  to  Him  as  He  loved  to  serve  and 
to  save  and  to  so  commend  Him  to  the  world; 
to  do  good  works  for  the  love  of  doing  them ;  in 
a  zeal  constantly  exercised  and  growing.  In  our 
own  city  there  are  large  numbers  from  foreign 
lands,  what  can  the  church  do  for  them?  There 
are  great  numbers  of  operatives  in  our  factories, 
what  can  the  church  do  for  them?  Surely  we 
should  show  the  brotherly  spirit  and  do  our  best 
to  secure  them  just  wages — good  living  condi- 
tions— the  education  they  need — all  this  and 
much  more  from  love  of  Christ  and  loving  them 
as  He  loves  them  and  so  to  recommend  Christ  to 
them.  Many  young  women  are  on  our  streets  at 
night  or  in  dance  halls.  What  can  the  church 
do  for  them.  Many  of  our  men  are  in  saloons 
these  cold  winter  nights.  Where  else  can  they 
go?  What  can  the  church  do  for  them?  Our 
church  and  other  churches  of  our  city  have  large 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM      187 

rooms  for  worship  and  social  life.  Can  these 
be  used  in  any  way  to  minister  to  the  needs  of 
others  beside  our  own  members?  There  are 
many  needs  of  the  community  where  we  live. 
We  have  a  large,  harmonious  church  organiza- 
tion. Surely  we  may  discover  many  possible 
ways  to  meet  the  needs  of  our  community  if 
we  are  zealous  of  good  works,  zealous  to  see  the 
needs,  zealous  to  discover  ways  of  meeting,  zeal- 
ous in  ministering  out  of  love  for  Christ — in  the 
exercise  of  Christ's  likeness  loving  our  fellows  as 
Christ  loved  them,  and  so  to  commend  Christ  to 
all  classes  and  conditions  of  our  fellow-men. 

We  should  cultivate  the  noble  life  like  unto  our 
Lord's — should  have  the  enthusiasm  He  had  as 
His  life  on  earth  is  described  in  the  scriptures. 
"He  went  about  doing  good."  This  zealousness 
of  good  works  of  the  church  extends  beyond  the 
individual  church  to  the  denomination  of  which 
it  is  a  part.  The  many  agencies  of  our  Reformed 
Church  in  America  are  to  be  heartily  sustained 
and  zealously  exercised. 

The  Domestic  Missionary  work  in  our  own 
land,  the  Foreign  Missionary  work  in  Japan, 
China,  India  and  Arabia.  Our  missionaries 
should  feel  the  thrill  of  enthusiasm  in  the  great 
work  of  preaching  Christ  to  the  world  as  they 
recognize  not  only  that  Christ  has  so  commanded 
them  and  is  with  them  to  bless,  and  their  church 
has  great  zeal  in  sustaining  them  and  is  working 
through  them.  So  also  the  agencies  of  publish- 
ing all  needed  papers,  tracts  and  books  for  the 


188      THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

spread  of  the  Gospel  in  our  own  lands  and  in 
heathen  lands  afford  a  channel  for  the  strong 
flow  of  our  zeal  for  good  works. 

So  also  the  agencies  of  many  stages  in  prepar- 
ing men  for  the  ministry  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ, 
selecting  devoted,  able  men  and  giving  them  the 
best  culture  and  training  form  a  very  important 
division  of  good  works  in  which  we  should  all 
be  zealous. 

Two  things  are  to  be  remembered.  We  should 
not  confine  our  zeal  to  organized  agencies  of  our 
denomination  but  should  as  members  of  the  in- 
dividual church  find  a  large  outlet  of  our  zeal  in 
individual  work  among  our  fellow  members  and 
among  our  acquaintances.  Also  we  should  not 
confine  our  zeal  to  our  own  denomination,  but 
should  love  and  encourage  our  sister  churches  in 
their  good  works,  an  incentive  of  zeal  from  one 
denomination  to  all  others  to  help  the  good  work. 
The  whole  church  will  thus  become  more  and 
more  one  church,  the  Holy  Catholic  Church — a 
peculiar  people  zealous  of  good  works. 


XV. 

THIRTY-THIRD  LORD'S  DAY  OF  THE 
HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 


"CONVERSION" 

Be  Ye  Renewed  in  the  Spirit  of  Your 
Mmd.— Eph.  4:23. 

YOU   cannot    draw    fresh    water    from    the 
ocean.     You  cannot  pour  honey  from   a 
cup  full  of  vinegar.     You  cannot  gather 
good  fruit  from  an  evil  tree.     Our  Savior  asks  : 

"Do  men  gather  grapes  of  thorns  or  figs  of 
thistles?" 

So  you  cannot  produce  holy  living  from  a  sin- 
ful character,  or  good  works  from  an  evil  heart. 
So  this  Lord's  Day  of  our  Catechism  teaches 
Bible  truth,  truth  confirmed  by  common  sense, 
truth  of  which  each  one  of  us  must  have  ex- 
perience when  it  says  a  man  cannot  be  saved 
except  by  being  converted.  It  also  makes  very 
clear  what  conversion  is,  a  sincere  sorrow  of 
heart  on  account  of  our  sins,  and  sincere  joy  of 
heart  in  God  through  Christ.  We  will  also  see 
how  this  conversion  may  be  secured,  and  what 
are  its  results — good  works — . 

This  then  is  the  important  truth  our  Cate- 
chism calls  us  to  consider.  The  need  of  conver- 
sion, its  nature,  the  means  of  attaining  it,  and 
the  results. 

189 


190      THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

Concerning  the  necessity  of  conversion  it  is 
seen  at  once  that  it  is  only  necessary  for  salva- 
tion. Many  live  and  die  without  giving  any 
evidence  to  their  fellows  of  being  converted.  It 
is  not  absolutely  necessary  for  even  what  passes 
among  men  for  a  faithful  good  life.  But  if  man 
is  by  nature  a  sinner,  he  is  alienated  from  God, 
it  is  self  evident  he  must  be  converted  and  re- 
newed in  the  spirit  of  his  mind  to  be  reconciled 
to  God  to  be  saved. 

People  differ  in  character  as  in  faces.  There 
are  various  degrees  of  alienation  from  God. 
There  may  be  enmity  or  only  indifference  to 
Him  as  seen  in  daily  life.  Here  is  one  rushing 
down  the  road  of  life  with  all  the  impetuosity  of 
an  already  long  descent — rushing  with  eager 
madness  away  from  God,  the  source  of  all  good. 
Here  is  another  walking  upon  the  serene  uplands 
of  morality  yet  his  back  is  turned  toward  God. 
He  is  conscious  that  his  morality  does  not  arise 
from  any  desire  to  please  God,  that  he  is  utterly 
indifferent  to  God  the  source  of  all  good,  that  he 
is  alienated  from  Him. 

We  may  ask  what  shall  become  of  these 
in  the  future  life  supposing  they  die  uncon- 
verted. They  will  enter  the  future  as  they  leave 
the  present  life  with  such  varied  records  and 
characters  for  there  is  no  reason  to  believe  that 
death  works  conversion  by  itself.  But  this  is 
something  foreign  to  our  present  subject — for 
we  are  considering  salvation  here  and  now,  in 
this  present  life.     Salvation  is  being  renewed  in 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM      191 

the  spirit  of  the  mind,  is  being  reconciled  to  God. 
The  one  rushing  down  in  vice  hears  the  voice  of 
God  to  him,  "turn  and  live."  He  pauses  on  the 
brink  of  despair — and  turns  to  God.  The  one 
walking  away  from  God  in  his  proud  morality- 
hears  the  same  voice,  he  should  hear  it  sooner 
and  more  distinctly  since  his  faculties  ought  to 
be  keener — and  he  too  turns  to  God. 

Now  it  is  easy  to  see  there  will  be  a  great 
difference  in  the  experience  of  these  two  men. 
The  one  at  the  bottom  of  the  hill  will  have  a 
hard  climb — his  natural  inclinations,  his  acquired 
propensities,  his  habits  and  companions — his 
reputation  are  all  against  him;  but  there  is  one 
thing — he  has  turned — he  is  facing  and  climbing 
upward — he  no  longer  halts — he  now  loves  God, 
his  Savior  in  Christ.  The  other  on  the  serene 
uplands  of  morality  may  have  very  little  change 
in  outward  life,  he  already  is  a  good  husband 
and  father,  neighbor,  business  man  and  friend. 
But  there  is  one  thing  that  fills  the  old  life  with 
a  new  life,  he  is  no  longer  indifferent,  he  now 
loves  God,  his  Savior  in  Christ.  Both  are  re- 
newed in  the  spirit  of  the  mind,  the  intensity 
of  the  feelings  will  vary  with  the  natural  powers 
of  the  mind  and  with  the  nature  of  the  past 
record  of  the  life — the  one  as  he  recognizes — the 
hideous  nature  of  his  wayward  life — the  other 
as  he  recognizes  the  meanness  of  his  having  left 
God  out  of  his  life. 

Our  Catechism  fully  describes  conversion  in 
what  it  turns  from  and  in  what  it  turns  to — in 


192      THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

the  change  of  mind  in  this  double  action.  In  this 
it  follows  closely  the  action  described  in  the 
verse  preceding  our  text — and  in  that  which 
follows  it — 

Conversion  in  the  putting  off  the  old  man  is 
according  to  the  Catechism  a  sincere  sorrow  of 
heart  that  we  have  provoked  God  by  our  sins 
and  more  and  more  to  hate  and  flee  from  them. 
The  man  of  vice  and  the  man  of  mere  worldly 
morality  now  in  conversion  agrees  in  seeing  that 
the  law  of  their  being  "love  God  supremely  and 
your  neighbor  as  yourself"  was  the  expression 
of  the  goodness  of  God  for  them  and  in  breaking 
it  they  have  sinned  against  God;  that  God  has 
blessed  them  wath  innumerable  blessings  and 
been  patient  with  them — and  still  they  sinned 
against  Him — that  God  so  loved  them  that  He 
gave  His  Son  to  save  them,  that  Christ  so  loved 
them  that  He  died  for  them,  and  still  they  sinned 
against  Him — that  God  granted  them  many  op- 
portunities for  repentance  and  pleaded  with  them 
in  many  ways  by  His  Holy  Spirit,  and  still  they 
sinned.  Each  one  feels — according  to  the  quality 
of  his  nature,  that  he  has  offended  the  holiness 
of  God,  abused  His  goodness — rejected  His  love; 
and  now  that  God  forgives  him  through  Christ 
deeply  increases  his  sorrow,  that  he  has  so 
shamefully  treated  the  infinite  and  gracious  God 
— his  Father  and  Savior.  His  sorrow  is  on 
account  of  his  sin,  not  on  account  of  its  effect 
present  or  threatened,  but  that  it  deserved  all 
these  and  more.     The  prisoner's  sorrow  is  that 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM      193 

he  has  been  found  out.  The  slave's  sorrow  is 
that  he  is  punished.  Such  sorrow  still  cleaves 
to  the  sin — "the  sorrow  of  the  world  works 
death." 

This  however  is  a  son's  sorrow,  a  son,  "who 
has  come  to  himself"  as  the  Savior  says  in  the 
parable — a  sorrow  that  he  has  sinned  against 
a  good  and  loving  Father,  This  sorrow  leads  him 
to  hate  and  flee  from  sin.  He  may  still  have 
the  old  propensities  to  his  own  peculiar  sins — 
but  he  struggles  against  them.  He  will  not  give 
any  quarter,  any  welcome  to  that  which  wrongs 
and  offends  his  good  Father,  to  that  which  would 
crucify  afresh  his  loving  Savior. 

"If  I  believed  I  was  saved,  as  you  do,"  said 
an  infidel  to  a  Christian,  "I  would  take  my  fill 
of  sin."  The  answer  was  prompt  and  fit.  "How 
much  sin  would  it  take  to  satisfy  a  Christian 
when  the  more  Christian  he  is  the  more  he  hates 
sin," 

But  conversion  is  not  only  turning  from  it, 
it  is  turning  to.  Conversion  is  not  all  sorrow 
clouding  our  life  in  gloom,  there  is  joy  in  it 
filling  our  life  with  light — it  is  not  all  struggle 
with  the  old  nature,  it  is  the  aspiration  of  the 
new  nature — it  is  not  only  putting  off  the  old 
man,  it  is  putting  on  the  new  man.  There  is 
such  a  thing  as  joy  even  in  the  sorrow — joy  that 
one  sorrows.  The  poor  man  joys  that  he  can 
put  off  the  coat  of  rags  for  he  can  put  on  far 
better  clothing;  the  prisoner  that  he  can  put  off 
his    prison    garb,    for    he    can    then    have    the 


194      THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

citizen's  dress;  the  slave  that  he  can  cast  aside 
his  slave  covering  and  be  clothed  a  free  man. 
So  our  Catechism  gives  the  positive  side  of  con- 
version, that  to  which  one  turns  with  eagerness. 
It  is  a  sincere  joy  of  heart  in  God,  through  Christ 
and  with  love  and  delight  to  live  according  to 
the  will  of  God  in  all  good  works. 

These  are  very  strong  words  joy  and  delight, 
and  between  them  love.  How  much  joy  and 
delight  if  we  consider  carefully  the  experience  of 
our  lives  flow  from  and  are  depending  upon 
love — the  love  of  parents  and  children — the  love 
of  husband  and  wife — of  brothers  and  sisters 
and  friends.  How  much  joy  and  delight  there 
is  in  growth  toward  an  ideal — the  growth  of  a 
rose  to  its  perfect  beauty — of  a  child  to  full 
manhood  or  womanhood — of  a  life  to  full  mental 
and  spiritual  development — of  an  enterprise  or 
cause  to  success.  Our  Catechism  strikes  the 
truth  when  it  associates  joy  and  delight  with 
love  and  with  living  according  to  the  will  of 
God.  Thus  the  love  we  have  in  the  noblest 
relations  of  our  earthly  life  is  but  a  faint  reflec- 
tion of  the  perfect  love  of  God.  The  growth, 
the  aspiration,  the  endeavor  of  the  noblest  life 
of  mankind  is  toward  the  loftiest  ideal,  the 
ideal  of  God  Himself  is  His  will  for  us.  The 
suffering  of  this  life  flows  largely  from  lack 
of  love — from  selfishness  and  strife — from  lack 
of  aspiration  and  endeavor  to  attain  the  high 
ideal  of  our  Creator  and  Father.  Conversion  is 
the  process  he  has  provided  for  the  recovery  of 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM      195 

the  ideal,  for  the  restoration  of  the  love — and 
it  brings  joy  and  delight,  the  present,  the 
highest,  th^  best  to  those  renewed  in  the  spirit 
of  their  minds. 

Here  also  nature  forms  in  man  differently  as 
the  surface  of  the  earth  differs  in  form — so  will 
the  amount  and  intensity  of  both  the  sorrow 
and  the  joy  of  conversion  vary  with  man's 
nature.  There  are  on  the  earth's  surface  great 
mountains  and  high  hills — also  broad  valleys  and 
wide  plains,  mountain  streams  are  often  rushing 
torrents,  sometimes  shallow,  sometimes  deep, 
while  the  valley  streams  are  gentle  or  strong 
and  may  be  large  rivers.  But  the  water  flowing 
in  torrent  or  river  is  the  same  in  essence — the 
gathered  rain  from  the  clouds  of  heaven.  So 
the  feelings  of  sorrow  and  joy  differ  in  amount 
and  intensity  according  to  the  natural  gift  of 
man,  but  they  are  the  same  in  essence — sorrow 
for  sin  against  God — joy  in  God  in  Christ. 

There  is  one  feature  of  effect  we  may  notice 
in  passing.  The  one  converted  from  an  excess 
of  sin  rioting  in  vice  may  become  very  earnest  in 
Christian  work  and  largely  successful  in  bring- 
ing many  souls  to  Christ,  and  some  may  infer 
that  an  outrageous,  sinful,  life  is  therefore  a 
preparation  for  great  usefulness  in  Christ's 
service — while  the  one  converted  from  worldly 
morality  does  not  have  such  marked  influence. 
But  this  is  to  be  considered — the  mountain  tor- 
rent makes  the  great  appearance  of  power,  so 
the  fiery,  impulsive  nature  of  the  one  converted 


196      THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

from  vice  may  be  greatly  blessed  in  converting 
his  fellows  and  in  impressing  the  community; 
but  after  all  we  know  that  the  well-watered 
valleys  and  plains  produce  the  world's  harvest 
of  grain  and  fruits,  so  the  strong  deep  nature 
of  one  who  has  lived  in  worldly  morality,  now 
converted  to  God,  may  be  so  steady  and  constant 
in  the  service  of  his  Savior  that  in  the  long  run 
he  may  be  the  most  useful  in  bringing  souls  to 
Christ  and  in  thus  upbuilding  in  Christ's  like- 
ness. 

We  should  be  careful  not  to  measure  ourselves 
by  one  another  but  according  to  the  description 
of  God's  word,  not  according  to  the  amount  and 
intensity  of  feelings  as  shown  in  others,  but 
according  to  the  essence  or  kind  of  the  feelings. 
Conversion  is  a  continuous  work;  we  should  seek 
to  grow  in  amount  and  intensity  of  feelings  and 
in  their  resultant  living,  but  first  of  all  to  be 
sure  that  we  sorrow  for  sinning  against  God — 
and  that  we  joy  in  God  in  Christ,  in  loving  and 
serving  Him.  You  who  are  thus  converted  are 
to  be  congratulated  upon  the  renewing  in  the 
spirit  of  your  minds — you  who  are  not  conscious 
of  such  a  blessed  state  and  still  desire  it  may 
well  consider  carefully  the  teaching  of  God  in 
His  word  of  the  way  in  which  conversion  may 
be  secured. 

There  are  four  classes  of  texts  in  the  Scrip- 
tures that  give  us  four  distinct  teachings  of  the 
way  conversion  may  be  secured. 

In   the  first   place   man   is   called   to   convert 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM      197 

himself — "Repent  ye,  for  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven 
is  at  hand"  is  the  call  of  Christ  Himself — as 
describing  His  whole  ministry.  "Repent  ye,  and 
be  baptized"  is  the  call  of  Peter  at  the  day  of 
Pentacost — and  again  to  the  people  in  the  Temple 
— and  again  in  our  text  Paul  says  "put  off  the 
old  man,  be  renewed  in  the  spirit  of  your  mind 
and  put  on  the  new  man."  Everywhere  in  the 
Scripture  the  call  is  Turn  ye — Turn  ye,  The  clear 
duty  of  every  man  is  to  repent  and  believe  the 
Gospel. 

In  the  second  class  of  texts  the  truth  is  said 
to  convert  man.  In  the  Old  Testament  it  is 
said:  "The  law  of  God,  that  is  the  word  of  God, 
is  perfect  converting  the  soul."  In  the  Epistle 
of  Peter  it  is  said,  "Being  born  again,  not  of 
corruptible  seed  but  of  incorruptible  by  the  word 
of  God."  In  the  third  class  of  texts  the  one 
converted  is  said  to  convert  others.  In  the 
penitential  51st  Psalm,  the  converted  sinner 
promises,  "Then  will  I  teach  transgressors  thy 
ways  and  sinners  shall  be  converted  to  thee." 
"He  who  converteth  the  sinner  from  the  error 
of  his  ways  shall  save  a  soul  from  death."  In 
the  fourth  class  of  texts  God  is  said  to  convert  a 
man,  Ezekiel  represents  God  as  saying  to  sinful 
men,  "A  new  heart  will  I  give  you  and  a  new 
spirit  will  I  put  within  you,  I  will  put  my  spirit 
within  you  and  cause  you  to  walk  in  my  statutes." 
The  Apostle  Paul  says  to  the  Colossians,  of 
Christ,  the  Lord,  "You  that  were  sometimes 
alienated  and  enemies  in  your  mind  by  wicked 


198      THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

works  yet  now  hath  he  reconciled  in  the  body  of 
his  flesh  through  death  to  present  you  holy  and 
unblamable  in  thy  sight." 

The  conversion  of  Paul  is  an  instance  of  these 
four  truths  fully  described.  He  believed  Christ 
was  an  impostor  and  so  persecuted  His  followers. 
The  vision  he  saw  on  his  way  to  Damascus 
convinced  him  that  Christ  was  the  Son  of  God. 
The  vision  did  not  convert  him,  it  simply  showed 
him  the  truth.  God  so  showed  him  the  truth. 
The  lives  of  Christ's  followers  whom  he  had 
persecuted  as  he  remembered  them  confirmed 
this  new  truth.  Paul  seeing  the  truth  that 
Christ  was  the  Son  of  God  became  His  follower. 
Paul  turned.  God  turned  him,  the  truth  turned 
him.     Believers  turned  him. 

We  see  at  a  glance  these  truths  are  not  con- 
tradictory but  cumulative.  God  is  our  all  and 
in  all.  We  have  not  made  ourselves  any  laws 
of  our  being.  He  created  us  with  all  our  powers 
and  He  made  the  laws  under  which  all  our 
powers  work.  When  we  use  our  powers  in 
obedience  to  His  laws  He  works  in  and  through 
us.  We  according  to  these  gifts  of  God  and 
the  laws  of  our  social  being  have  large  influence 
over  each  other.  Again,  truth  itself  has  large 
influence  over  each  one  of  us;  we  may  resist 
or  evade  it,  but  even  this  abuse  of  truth  testifies 
to  its  power.  So  to  come  to  the  first  class  of 
texts  or  truths.  We  recognize  the  power  of  our 
own  will  in  any  matter  involving  the  question  of 
duty,  the  power  of  choosing — of  deciding  for  or 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM      199 

against,  the  strong  saying  of  the  soul,  the  "I 
ought"  of  a  soul.  In  this  matter  of  conversion 
each  one  knows  he  ought  to  turn  to  God — that 
the  repentance  of  sin  and  the  trust  in  Christ 
must  be  his  own  act.  He  knows  it  is  the  truth 
that  thus  calls  upon  him  to  act.  He  knows  also 
that  I  who  am  preaching  am  speaking  of  my  own 
experience  when  I  urge  him  to  turn  to  God  and 
he .  knows  also  that  his  converted  friends 
plead  with  him  to  turn  to  God  and  live,  and 
he  knows  also  that  in  all  these  ways  God  in 
His  providence  and  by  His  grace — God  his  creator, 
his  bountiful  benefactor,  his  loving  Savior  is 
pleading  with  him  to  turn,  and  believe  and  love 
Him  in  time  and  through  eternity.  You  who 
are  not  converted  may  and  should  recognize  that 
fact — you  must  know  that  conversion  is  neces- 
sary to  reconciliation  with  God — to  your  salva- 
tion from  sin — that  you  should  turn  now  to 
Him — that  the  truth  calls  you — that  your  friends 
call  you,  that  God  calls  you.  He  will  renew  the 
spirit  of  your  mind.  He  will  bless  you  with  His 
blood  bought  salvation.    Turn  to  Him ! 

The  results  of  conversion  are  good  works; 
these  our  Catechism  says  proceed  from  a  true 
faith,  are  performed  according  to  the  law  of 
God  and  to  His  glory — and  are  to  be  distinguished 
from  the  so-called  good  works  founded  on  the 
imaginations  and  institutions  of  men.  The  full 
description  of  these  good  works  will  be  the 
subject  for  future  consideration. 


XVI. 


THIRTY-FOURTH  LORD'S  DAY  OF  THE 
HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 


"THE  END  DESIGNED  BY  GOD" 

The  End  of  the  Commayidment  is  Char- 
ity Out  of  a  Pure  Heart  and  a  Good 
Conscience  and  Faith  Unfeigned. 

I  Timothy  1 :5. 

THE  meaning  of  the  word  end  in  the  text  is 
obviously  not  the  terminus  or  limit  as  the 
end  of  this  platform,  but  the  design  or 
purpose  as  the  purpose  of  this  platform  is  to 
lift  the  speaker  so  he  can  be  seen  and  heard  by 
those  in  the  farthest  seats.  The  End  of  the  Com- 
mandment or  as  the  revised  version  says  of  the 
charge  is  love.  Paul,  the  aged  and  experienced 
preacher  writes  his  charge  to  the  young  preacher 
that  the  aim  or  design  of  Christian  preaching 
and  living  is  to  produce  love.  These  men,  Paul 
and  Timothy,  were  among  the  early  founders  of 
the  Christian  Church,  with  its  proclaiming  the 
truth  and  its  fellowship  of  believers,  so  the 
design  or  end  of  the  church  is  to  produce  love. 

Where  did  Paul  get  this  charge?  Did  he  de- 
vise it?  And  are  we  listening  only  to  his  charge, 
to  a  young  preacher?  We  recognize  at  once 
that  Christ,  the  Great  Head  of  the  Church,  gave 
the  charge.    Christ  says : 

200 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM      201 

"This  is  my  commandment  that  ye  love  one 
another  as  I  have  loved  you."   We  know  also  as 
he  says  that  Christ  came  not  to  destroy  the  law 
but  to  fulfill  it,   and  that  the  summary  of  the 
Ten  Commandments  is  love— as  He  has  taught 
us.     Love  God  supremely,  love  your  neighbor  as 
yourself.      So   God   in   Christ   says   the   end   or 
design  of  all  His  law  and  His  gospel,  of  His  church 
as  carrying  out  His  teaching  and  His  life,  is  love. 
There  are  several  questions  that  one  will  in- 
stinctively ask  about  any  great  institution.   What 
is  its  origin  and  history?     What  is  its  nature? 
What  is  it  for?    And  how  is  it  adapted  to  secure 
this  end?     We  have  already  considered  some  of 
these  questions  about  the  Christian  church.   Now, 
this    question    arises    what    is    its    end?      What 
does  God  give  it  to  do  in  this  world.     Its  end  is 
love.     A  larger  question,  a   wider  view  arises. 
What  is  the  end,  the  design  of  the  earth  itself 
as  it  sails  through  space,  with  the  race  of  man 
upon  it?    We  know  that  the  law  given  on  Sinai 
and   the   Cross   on   Calvary   and   the   triumphal 
ascension  of  Christ  from  the   Mount  of  Olives, 
that  all  the  supernatural   revelation   of   God   in 
the    Scriptures    is    not    in    conflict    but    in    full 
harmony  with  His  revelation  of  Himself  in  nature. 
It  is  simply  supernatural— that  is,   it  is   above 
nature— more  full  than  nature— not  in  conflict  or 
in  opposition  to  nature. 

What  then  is  the  purpose  or  design  of  the 
great  universe?  We  begin  to  catch  a  glimpse 
of  the  lofty  end,  it  is   love— a   being   who   can 


202      THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

love,  who  has  the  capability  of  loving.  As  the 
various  stages  of  creation  pass  before  us  as 
God  in  His  two  books  has  revealed  them  to  us, 
we  recognize  that  each  is  good  in  itself — as  God 
saw  it  was  good,  but  also  good  as  a  stage 
leading  on  to  the  next.  At  each  stage,  there  is 
a  commandment,  "God  said,"  and  there  is  God's 
judgment  pronounced  "it  is  good" — light — the 
globe  of  the  earth — now  the  gift  of  life  in  myriad 
forms  of  vegetation — and  now  from  the  earth 
can  be  seen  the  moon,  and  sun  and  stars.  Now 
that  the  earth  is  prepared  for  it  God  creates 
animal  life  in  myriad  forms  grade  after  grade 
advancing  through  countless  ages  and  all  is 
good.  What  is  the  design?  What  is  yet  to 
come?  At  last,  God  brings  forth  man  gifted  by 
the  great  Creator  with  likeness  to  Himself;  and 
"all  is  good." 

Now,  we  ask  what  is  likeness  to  Himself? 
Man  has  intellect,  power  to  know  the  truth.  Man 
has  a  moral  sense,  power  to  see  the  right.  Man 
has  will,  power  to  choose  the  right;  anything 
more  in  man?  Yes,  vastly  more.  He  not  only 
can  see  the  truth  and  the  right — he  can  love  the 
truth  and  love  the  right  and  can  choose  as  he 
loves.  And  so  he  can  love  the  Being  in  whom 
truth  and  right  and  love  have  their  loftiest  ex- 
pression. He  can  love  God  who  is  truth  and 
right,  but  higher  yet,  who  is  love. 

God,  who  is  love,  has  created  on  this  little 
earth  a  being  who  can  love,  who  is  capable  of 
loving.     The  many   stages   of   creation   through 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM      203 

the  countless  ages  have  at  last  attained  the 
designed  end — a  being  who  can  love  God  supreme- 
ly, who  can  love  himself  properly  as  a  creature 
of  God  and  who  can  love  every  other  man  as 
he  loves  himself.  And  now  when  this  being, 
the  culmination  of  God's  creative  power,  fails 
to  exercise  his  nature  according  to  the  great  law 
of  his  being,  God's  infinite  love  seeks  to  restore 
him  to  His  original  design,  and  in  so  doing 
shows  the  attractiveness  of  lovliness  in  Himself 
in  rnore  fullness  than  was  possible  in  mere  crea- 
tion, in  all  the  wonderful  self  sacrifice  of  re- 
demption. 

The  value  of  anything  may  be  inferred  from 
who  makes  it,  how  much  pains  he  takes  in  mak- 
ing it,  how  great  resources  he  uses,  how  much 
patience  and  persistence  and  time  he  spends  in 
making  it. 

Who  can  estimate  the  value  of  love  in  God's 
sight — the  end  designed  in  all  God's  work  of 
creation  and  redemption.  The  philosopher  Kant 
says  there  are  two  perpetual  inexplicable  wonders 
— the  starry  heavens  over  our  heads — and  the 
moral  law  within  us — the  categorical,  imperative. 
Here  we  have  the  design,  the  end  of  both  of  the 
heavens  and  of  the  law — it  is  love.  God  from 
the  beginning  had  the  great  purpose  or  design 
in  mind  as  He  moulded  the  material  creation, 
and  then  formed  a  being  uniting  in  himself  the 
material  and  the  spiritual  creations,  the  end  is 
love,  a  being  capable  of  loving.   What  the  end  of 


204      THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

the  universe  with  its  millions  of  suns?  What  the 
end  of  the  spiritual  beings  about  His  throne? 
A  being  joining  the  two  natures,  material  and 
spiritual — a  being  who  can  and  will  love. 
Jehovah  describes  to  Job  some  of  the  glory  of 
creation — 

"When  the  morning  stars  sang  together, 
"And  all  the  sons  of  God  shouted  for  joy." 

Surely  we  should  appreciate  somewhat  the 
grandeur  of  our  nature  and  may  well  cultivate  an 
enthusiasm  for  humanity  as  God  designs  it,  and 
God  with  patience  and  self-sacrificing  love  seeks 
to  carry  out  His  great  design.  What  is  the 
highest  possible  life  man  can  attain?  To  know 
the  truth?  Yes — and  especially  to  love  it,  to 
choose  the  right?  Yes.  Not  simply  because  he 
ought,  but  because,  he  loves  it.  How  shall  man 
make  the  most  out  of  life  here  and  now?  By 
cultivating  his  God  like  powers  of  love — by  ful- 
filling God's  design.  The  end  of  the  command- 
ment is  love.  As  the  spiritual  beings  about  His 
throne,  the  sons  of  God,  saw  His  great  design 
unfolding  through  the  various  stages  of  creation, 
they  shouted  for  joy.  Surely  we,  as  we  recog- 
nize God's  design  in  creating  us  should  shout 
for  joy. 

Alas,  how  the  race  of  man  has  missed  the 
lofty  end  of  its  creation —  and  thus  has  filled 
the  earth  with  the  groans  of  sorrow  instead  of 
the  shouts  of  joy.  Again,  we  ask  the  question. 
What  is  the  end  of  the  Christian  Church?    What 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM      205 

is  its  purpose?  What  does  God  call  it  to  do  in 
the  world?  The  end  is  love.  It  is  to  live  love, 
to  preach  love,  to  advance  love  in  mankind.  God 
has  not  given  up  His  great  design.  He  not  only 
holds  before  the  church  the  great  end,  but  shows 
how  it  may  be  brought  about  in  its  own  experi- 
ence and  as  it  proclaims  the  Gospel  of  Christ  to 
all  mankind — God's  end  and  the  means  of  accom- 
plishing this  end  are  all  found  in  our  text. 

Love  out  of  a  pure  heart  and  a  good  conscience 
and  faith  unfeigned.  The  church  must  itself 
see  Christ  the  Savior  and  trust  Him  fully — have 
a  sincere  faith ;  and  she  must  so  proclaim  and 
commend  Christ  to  mankind  that  they  will  have 
this  sincere  faith.  This  will  result  in  a  good 
conscience,  one  forgiven  of  past  sin  and  en- 
lightened to  see  and  approve  the  right  as  God 
reveals  it.  This  will  result  in  a  pure  heart,  a 
heart  cleansed  from  sin — from  the  lust  of  selfish- 
ness that  ignores  God,  that  ignores  man  as  the 
creature  of  God — a  heart  now  renewed  in  the 
likeness  of  Christ  to  love  God  supremely  and  to 
love  one's  self  properly  as  a  creature  of  God, 
and  to  love  his  fellow-man  as  he  loves  himself. 

This  is  the  experience  of  the  Christian  church ; 
this  the  result  of  her  proclaiming  and  living  the 
Gospel  of  Christ,  a  strong,  clear  faith,  seeing 
and  trusting  Christ,  a  good  conscience,  forgiven, 
renewed  and  made  controlling  by  the  power  of 
Christ,  a  pure  heart  cleansed  from  all  dislike 
and  hatred  and  filled  with  love  of  God  and  of 
humanity. 


206      THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

The  Christian  church  is  thus  to  have  Christ's 
spirit  and  to  carry  on  Christ's  life  and  mission 
in  the  world.  The  church  is  to  live  and  labor  in 
the  highest  sphere  of  human  life  and  with  the 
fullest  means  to  secure  the  end  of  God's  com- 
mandment, to  do  away  with  all  human  hatred 
and  misery,  and  to  bring  about  all  human  love 
and  joy — to  establish  the  Kingdom  of  God  on 
the  earth.  The  glorious  end  of  God  in  creation 
and  in  redemption  becomes  the  end  of  the  Chris- 
tian church  as  it  catches  a  vision  of  her  God- 
given  mission.  Our  Catechism  has  brought  us 
through  the  teaching  and  appeal  of  the  truths 
of  the  Christian  religion  to  the  experience  of 
the  Spirit's  power  in  them,  through  the  organi- 
zation of  the  church  to  its  mission  to  live  a  life 
of  thanksgiving — a  joyous,  beautiful  life  in 
the  service  of  God — and  it  now  instructs  us  that 
good  works  of  this  praiseful  life  can  only  be 
performed  according  to  the  law  of  God.  The 
truths  we  believe,  the  person  we  trust,  the  for- 
giveness and  acceptance  with  God,  we  possess; 
all  these  lead  to  salvation — and  salvation  is  love 
— the  restoration  of  man  to  God's  great  design  to 
love,  to  obedience  to  the  law  of  God.  This  law 
is  found  in  the  Ten  Commandments — one  table 
on  duties  to  God,  the  second  table  on  duties  to 
man,  and  as  summarized  by  Christ,  love  God 
with  all  your  powers  and  love  your  fellow-man 
as  yourself,  and  so  live  Christ-like  lives. 
-■-4  The   Catechism   in   future   Lord's   Days   holds 

before  us  the  Ten  Commandments  and  the  Lord's 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM      207 

Prayer,   the   law  or   word   of   God,   and   man's 
response  to  that  word  in  aspiration. 

Two  questions  force  themselves  upon  our  care- 
ful    attention — 

First:  How  shall  the  church  regard  its  mis- 
sion. 

Second:  How  successful  has  it  been  in  carry- 
ing it  out  ?  How  shall  the  church  regard  the  Ten 
Commandments.  In  what  sense  have  they  been 
set  aside?  As  the  means  of  attaining  life — the 
life  of  forgiveness  and  acceptance  with  God  can 
never  be  attained  by  our  keeping  the  Ten  Com- 
mandments, by  our  own  righteousness.  Christ 
is  our  Savior;  He,  by  His  perfect  obedience  and 
His  atoning  death  merits  for  us  salvation. 

Whatever  unbelievers  may  say  that  the  Ten 
Commandments  are  impractical,  whatever  wrong 
views  some  believers  in  Christ  may  have  that 
the  Ten  Commandments  are  no  longer  the  rule 
of  life  we  clearly  see  as  we  study  human  nature 
and  as  we  learn  of  God  that  the  Ten  Command- 
ments are  still  in  full  force.  The  commands  or 
laws  of  God  in  the  material  universe  enforce 
themselves,  they  have  power  in  them  to  inflict 
penalties  for  disobedience  and  to  bestow  well 
being  for  obedience ;  it  is  the  same  with  the  laws 
of  the  mind  and  of  the  soul.  The  mental  and 
moral  laws  of  God  have  the  power  of  enforcing 
themselves.  The  man  who  obeys  the  laws  of 
gravitation  has  welfare — if  he  jumps  from  a 
skyscraper,  he  is  broken  to  pieces.   The  man  who 


208      THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

eats  healthy  food  in  proper  times  and  amounts 
and  ways  has  welfare — the  one  who  drinks  poison 
dies.  The  youth  who  studies  wisely  becomes 
learned — the  one  who  idles  away  his  time  re- 
mains ignorant. 

It  is  the  same  with  the  moral  law,  the  Com- 
mandments of  God.  They  are  in  force  both 
East  and  West  of  the  Mississippi  River,  in  the 
old  world  and  in  the  new,  wherever  man  lives 
on  this  round  earth;  they  enforce  themselves 
with  penalties  for  disobedience  or  welfare  for 
obedience.  Take,  for  example,  family  life  wher- 
ever found.  Where  love  rules,  and  to  the  extent 
in  which  it  rules  there  is  welfare;  when  parents 
love  children  and  the  children  love  parents  and 
brothers  and  sisters  love  each  other  there  dwells 
happiness.  If  it  is  simply  natural  love,  God  so 
made  human  hearts — if  it  is  this  natural  love 
refined  and  enforced  by  spiritual  love  in  Christ 
the  happiness  is  purer  and  higher.  Christian 
love  makes  the  Christian  home  the  happiest  place 
on  earth,  blessed  with  the  happiness  of  heaven. 

On  the  contrary,  when  parents  are  selfish, 
always  seeking  their  own  way — when  children 
towards  parents  and  to  each  other  are  selfish, 
always  seeking  their  own  way,  where  envy, 
jealousy,  strife  and  conflict  hold  sway — the  law 
of  God,  the  Ten  Commandments  are  in  force — 
they  work  their  penalty  of  themselves,  and  the 
home  is  the  abode  of  misery  and  woe.  It  is  the 
same  way  with  friends;  when  they  appreciate, 
trust  and  love  each  other,  there  is  the  happiness 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM      209 

of  friendship;  if  they  fall  apart  in  distrust  and 
suspicion  and  coldness,  the  happiness  vanishes 
away  of  its  own  motion. 

It  is  the  same  in  the  wider  ranges  of  social 
life.  In  society  as  we  find  it  today  there  are 
many  classes — the  rich  and  the  poor,  the  learned 
and  the  unlearned,  the  capitalist  and  the  labor 
classes.  Paul  speaks  of  himself  as  having  a 
great  possession  in  the  Gospel  of  Christ  but  it 
was  for  others — he  says  he  is  thereby  a  debtor 
to  the  bond  and  free,  to  the  Jew  and  Gentile. 
The  more  one  has  the  more  one  can  serve  one's 
fellows,  and  the  more  real  satisfaction  he  has  in 
the  services  of  love — the  love  of  humanity  brings 
welfare.  In  proportion  as  that  spirit  prevails 
there  is  happiness.  Even  where  classes  exist. 
In  our  day  there  is  much  conflict  between  labor 
and  capital — as  each  seeks  its  own,  to  grasp  and 
to  hold  and  from  such  conflict  much  suffering 
and  unhappiness  results.  When  the  Christian 
spirit  of  love  prevails,  and  in  proportion  as  it 
prevails,  when  capital  seeks  the  welfare  of  labor 
and  labor  seeks  the  welfare  of  capital,  where 
they  are  brothers  laboring  together  for  the 
common  good,  there  happiness  abounds.  Capital 
if  acquired  by  well  directed  efforts  to  promote 
the  good  of  mankind,  if  acquired  by  the  service 
of  love — love  of  doing  good — of  advancing 
humanity  brings  a  satisfaction  in  itself;  and  so 
labor  in  high  or  low  position  for  the  good  of 
humanity  has  the  satisfaction  of  achievement 
and  of  love. 


210      THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

But  capital  trying  to  get  the  better  of  man- 
kind, and  labor  trying  to  get  the  better  of 
mankind,  these  bring  only  the  distress  of  selfish- 
ness however  successful  they  may  be  in  securing 
their  selfish  aims. 

So  take  the  wider  classification  in  the  race  of 
mankind,  that  of  race  and  specially  of  national 
life.  A  nation  in  proportion  that  it  lives  for 
its  own  self  is  apt  to  have  the  jealousy  of  its 
neighbors — and  dislike  and  grasping  arise — and 
ambition  to  get  the  advantage  follows.  Now  as 
these  flame  forth  in  wide  action,  they  result  in 
war,  and  today  we  have  the  distress  and  suffer- 
ing that  war  brings.  We  look  forward  to  the 
peace  that  shall  be  brought  about  by  the  victory 
in  war  and  hope  it  will  be  the  victory  of  the 
right  of  democracy  to  rule  in  national  life,  for 
which  our  own  free  land  entered  the  struggle. 

When  peace  comes  it  will  be  by  agreement 
among  the  nations  in  treaties  made  with  each 
other.  But  we  all  recognize  there  can  be  no 
lasting  or  world  wide  peace  until  nations  obey 
the  Ten  Commandments,  until  each  nation  loves 
its  neighbor  as  itself.  Our  own  country  cannot 
be  happy  if  it  loves  itself  alone;  it  must  love 
all  other  nations  as  it  loves  itself — and  so  seek 
the  good  of  all. 

When  all  the  nations  seek  the  welfare  of  the 
race — of  humanity.  This  will  be  the  Kingdom 
of  God  on  earth  for  which  we  labor  and  pray. 
The  reign  of  Christ  will  be  the  reign  not  of 
power  but  of  love. 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM      211 

The  second  question  the  church  is  forced  to 
consider  is.  How  successful  has  it  been  by  its 
preaching  and  its  life  in  producing  love?  How 
has  it  attained  the  end  of  the  commandment, 
and  of  its  own  existence  and  mission?  It  is 
quite  evident  there  has  been  much  success,  and 
very  large  failure;  it  is  impossible  to  rightly 
estimate  the  amount  and  character  of  the  one 
or  the  other.  It  is  quite  evident  that  its  failure 
as  seen  in  the  fearful  war  of  nations — as  seen 
in  the  social  conflicts  in  Christian  lands,  as  seen 
in  the  multitude  of  individual  lives  still  en- 
grossed in  self  seeking,  ignoring  God  and  human- 
ity, that  its  failure  is  due  largely  to  the  church 
having  had  an  imperfect  view  of  its  mission — to 
its  having  in  some  degree  and  in  many  instances 
contented  itself  with  enforcing  the  means  and 
not  sufficiently  valuing  the  end.  It  has  spent 
great  effort  in  having  a  pure  creed — has  had 
much  controversy  within  itself  over  important 
articles,  often  awaking  feelings  the  reverse  of 
love  for  some  of  its  own  members  and  for  those 
outside  its  fold — and  so  also  with  its  government, 
often  using  it  as  a  club  for  heretics  rather  than 
as  an  olive  branch  to  welcome  believers — and  so 
also  with  its  worship — often  magnifying  the 
forms  above  the  spirit — creed — government, 
worship.  What  would  a  church  be  without  them 
— but  they  are  only  means  to  an  end — the  end 
is  love. 

We  must  know  God  as  revealed  in  Jesus  Christ 
in  order  to  love  Him.    Come  know  Him,  said  the 


212      THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM 

church,  know  Him  with  me,  believe  Him,  worship 
Him,  obey  Him — all  in  order  that  you  and  I 
together  may  love  Him — the  end  is  love — the  love 
that  delights  in  Him — the  love  that  values  the 
return  love  and  ever  seeks  it  as  the  most  price- 
less possession,  the  love  that  seeks  to  serve  Him. 

We  must  know  the  truth  about  ourselves  and 
our  fellow-men.  We  must  know  humanity  in 
order  to  love  all  men.  Who  is  this  being  man? 
He  is  the  being  at  the  end  of  God's  creative 
work,  a  being  made  in  His  own  likeness,  a  being 
who  can  love.  He  has  gone  astray  from  the 
design  of  God  in  making  him,  but  God  has  not 
given  him  up  to  his  wandering,  but  follows  him 
to  save  him,  to  bring  him  back  to  his  original 
design — to  love.  How  much  does  God  love  him? 
Hear  what  Christ  says,  "God  so  loved  the  world 
that  He  gave  His  only  Begotten  Son  that  whom- 
soever believeth  on  Him  should  not  perish  but 
have  eternal  life."  So  God's  church  is  to  love  all 
mankind. 

In  our  land  during  the  great  war  many  homes 
had  hanging  in  the  front  window  a  service  flag 
— there  is  one  star  on  it — or  there  may  be  others 
— the  star  indicates  that  one  son  is  in  the  army, 
he  may  be  in  some  training  camp,  or  he  may  be 
in  France  on  the  battlefield.  One  son  of  the 
family  has  given  himself  to  the  service  of  his 
country  in  the  cause  of  democracy  for  all  nations. 
In  the  early  evening  on  these  clear  days  you 
may  see  a  bright  star  shining  alone  in  the  blue 
sky.     Let  it  remind  you  of  God's  service  flag. 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM      213 

He  gave  His  only  Begotten  Son  for  the  salvation 
of  humanity,  and  let  it  quicken  our  loyalty  to 
Him  and  to  His  cause,  to  the  love  of  our  fellow- 
man,  to  serve  Him,  and  so  to  awaken  His  love 
for  Christ  and  humanity  until  the  whole  heaven 
is  filled  with  the  multitude  of  stars  like  Him. 


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